The Trials of the King
by Nanaki
Summary: Eighteen years after the events of the game, Crono has finally become the King of Guardia. A group of oppressed Native Porrians sees this change as a golden opportunity... Action and wackiness commence in pretty much equal measure, until the end, anyway.
1. Prologue and 1: Heroic Sacrifice

(Nanaki's note: Welcome, one and all, to Trials of the King! It has now been exactly ten years since this story first went up at Icy's, so I thought it was high time I got around to posting it here. I started work on this story almost immediately after I finished Mount Woe, and thus it was written (and posted at Icy's) entirely within the month of July 1998. And it wasn't even the only thing I wrote that month. Ah, those were the halcyon days of productivity... Anyway, in hindsight, taking a little longer to write it probably would have resulted in improved quality, but I was extremely eager to get started on Tempo Trigger back then, and I felt I had to do this one first. Why I didn't just do them both at the same time, I have no idea, since they really have nothing to do with each other, but oh well. Despite this being a rushed story, and despite being a hastily CT-ified version of a plot for an original story that I felt I wouldn't have time to write, people still seemed to like it a lot. Hopefully, you will too. Enjoy.)

**The Trials Of The King Prologue **

**By Nanaki **

March 3, 0 A.D.

Lavian Triggara squinted up at the clouds, trying to determine where the sun was. It was another one of those typical "Cloud Burn" days that always seemed to plague Porre. She had gotten burned pretty badly her first few days here. After all, if the sun wasn't shining, you couldn't get sunburn, right? 'Ha!' She laughed at the thought.

"General Triggara, it's time to begin." Her top aide whispered to her.

"How can you tell?" Lavian squinted at the sky again.

"Word has come from Choras. General Guardia wants you to eliminate all remaining resistance, as soon as possible."

"I don't work that way." Lavian shook her head.

"General Guardia will be most upset if he has to handle prisoners." The aide whispered apprehensively.

"General Guardia can kiss my ass." Lavian dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Very well, but I'm following the original plan." She walked to the crest of the hill, stepped up, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted. "Matuyama-san! I am forced to demand your immediate!-" She stopped as one of the soldiers tapped her on the shoulder. "Yes? What is it?"

"Uh, general, the enemy soldiers are staked out on the other side." The soldier whispered apologetically. Lavian stayed silent for a second, then sheepishly turned around. At first glance, Lavian seemed to be quite the ditz, but almost everyone who had assumed that was dead now. She could do the job when it counted.

She cupped her hands again, and shouted, "Matuyama-san! I am forced to demand your immediate surrender! Please lay down your arms!"

"We will never surrender, as long as Goroda-sama continues to fight against Guardia!" A determined voice responded.

"Goroda has surrendered to Lord Guardia in Choras. I have just received word." Lavian geniunely felt bad as she delivered the news.

"Lies!" Most of Matuyama's soldiers instantly cried.

"Matuyama-san, you know I would not lie to you. You are an honorable warrior. Goroda has seen the wisdom of the Truce!"

"I will never the see the wisdom of peace." Lord Matuyama stepped forward from the trees. "Men are meant to kill one another. It is the way of the world. It is foolishness to fear death!"

"Do you know what this means?" Voices drifted from the trees at the base of the hill. "If Goroda-sama has surrendered, Matuyama-sama is now Shogun!" Shouts began to drift from the trees. "Sei i tai Shogun! Sei i tai Shogun!"

"Please, my people!" Matuyama waved for them to quiet down. "We will never surrender!" Then he turned back to the trees, and addressed the soldiers waiting within. "My people, we no longer fight for victory. That is impossible now. Now, we fight for our honor! Charge forward, and let us destroy the northern devils where they cower!!" With that, Matuyama drew his katana and charged up the hill.

"Matuyama!!" The battle cry echoed from the trees, and his soldiers followed the charge.

Lavian sighed and raced to meet him, Guardian troops practically oozing out of the woodwork. Matuyama was good, no question, but even the mighty warrior could not match the ancestor of Crono in battle skill. While their katanas crashed back and forth, the Guardian troops slowly but surely defeated his forces by sheer strength of numbers. Suddenly, the two supreme combatants were hit with a mob of fighting flunkies, and seperated.

Within a matter of minutes, only five of Matuyama's men remained alive, fenced in by a living wall of Guardian soldiers. Lavian waded through them and stepped into the circle. "You must surrender now. You have no choice."

"There is always a choice!" The soldier in front growled. He quickly took his shorter sword out, then quickly stabbed it into his stomach, cutting upward, and then sideways. Some of Lavian's men looked ill as his intestines spilled into the dirt. The Matuyama soldier behind him quickly struck off his head. The other three soldiers immediately did the same thing with their stabbing swords, and the same man struck their heads off as well. The Guardian crowd was quickly dispersing now. The last man drew his shorter sword, but his hands wavered as the blade neared his stomach. Lavian quickly stepped forward.

"I am Lavian Triggara. I would be honored to be your second." She held her katana high.

He looked at it with surprise. "Thank you. I am Atenak." He once again put the knife to his stomach. Lavian readied her sword, but he remained silent for a second.

"Are you ready? I wish to be perfect for you." Lavian asked with geniune concern.

"No... But I must... Hai!" And with that, he sliced his stomach open also. Lavian waited for the appropriate moment, then quickly lopped off his head.

"General... How could you do that?" Her aide held his stomach.

"I helped him to die with honor. It was easy." She shrugged, wiping her sword off on the ground. She quickly scanned the battlefield, then came to a realization. "Matuyama's not out there, is he?"

A soldier beside her also took a good look. "Damn it, no."

Lavian looked at the ground, dejectedly. "Oh, this is going to go on for a long, long time..."

.

A ten year old boy looked up suddenly as a figure stumbled through the trees, clutching open wounds. He backed away at first, but then rushed forward. "Father, what has happened?"

"I have failed, my son." Matuyama replied sadly. "For this, I must commit seppuku. But first, I had to speak to you one last time..."

"Father, please don't! We can beat the Guardian devils!"

"Not now. Not at this time. You must stay in hiding, and slowly rebuild our forces, until the time is right. That is the only hope for eventual victory now. Until that day, we must learn to live without freedom." Matuyama then reached into his sash. "Take this sword, my son. You are going to be my second."

The boy held the long katana shakily. "I-I've never done this before, father."

"Just make sure to strike as hard as you can. Whenever you use this sword, strike as hard as you can. It was made by the legendary Murasama, and deserves as such. If you cannot do it correctly the first time, well then, that is just our karma, neh?"

"Hai." The boy responded softly. Matuyama drew out his shorter sword, and quickly slashed through his stomach. The boy waited until what he thought was the appropriate moment, then slashed at his father's neck with all his strength. Matuyama's head rolled slowly to the ground.

"Karma, neh?" He whispered. "Not while victory is still in sight. Not while a Matuyama still possesses this Murasama! I will make the Guardian devils pay for this humiliation, father! I swear it!"

.

"How dare you?! He was my father!!" - Antoine D'Coolette, _Sonic the Hedgehog #46_

.

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 1**

**Heroic Sacrifice**

By Nanaki

April 14, 1,017 A.D.

"You sure this is the brightest idea ever conceived Zeik?" One man out of many asked from their hiding place in the bushes on the outskirts of the forest.

"No. I have to admit that, Kaneta. But we've got starving people back home, and I know the mayor wants to give us the money for supplies. It's just that the Guardian regulations won't let him."

"So you think breaking in won't attract attention to us?" Kaneta grumbled.

"No, but they sure won't be expecting this." Zeik countered. "One of these days, I'll have to really do something about Guardia."

"Sure." Kaneta yawned. "We'd all love to. When is anyone ever going to?"

"Quiet! Now look up there." A third man next to them pointed toward an upstairs window.

"What is it, Omi-san?" Zeik crawled forward.

"Everyone has retired for the night, and there is a window ajar. We won't have to "break" in at all."

"You have the climbing equipment Mariko?" Zeik asked the darkness. The small woman behind him nodded. "One grappling hook. That window. Let's hope there are no special agents inside." With the ease of someone who had done it many times before, Mariko quietly and quickly secured the grappling hook. "You stay out here to cover our escape route."

"Still don't trust me in battle, huh Zeik?" She pretended to pout.

"No, I just don't want to risk you." He kissed her on the cheek. Then, he, Kaneta, Omi, and three other men raced up the rope. It was obviously an activity they were all used to. Kaneta was on point, with Omi functioning as the rear guard. Zeik was surrounded by a living shield of the other three men. He almost always protested the special treatment, but the others refused to risk the last surviving Matuyama.

"Zeik." Kaneta whispered softly. "The safe should be two rooms ahead, on the left. Extreme caution is required."

"How stupid do I look?" Zeik whispered back.

"I don't think you want me to answer that." Kaneta grinned. They all moved silently into the room. Fortunately, only one sleeping child occupied the inside. Omi quickly detected the safe behind a painting, and began tampering with the lock. It seemed to be fairly stubborn.

"I need some light here." Omi whispered at his quietest.

"Not much." Kaneta struck a match, then lit a small candle that one of the others procured from somewhere.

"Huh...?" The sleeping child began to stir.

"Handle it Kaneta." Zeik whispered urgently. Kaneta walked over to the bedside, then quickly unsheathed his katana. "Holy-! No, that's not what I meant!' Zeik stopped him in an almost normal tone of voice. Kaneta sighed and put the sword away. Zeik hurried over to the bedside himself.

"What's going on?" The kid asked sleepily.

"You're just having a weird dream." Zeik reassured her. "Keep on sleeping."

"Okay." The kid rolled over, and was out like a light. Zeik glared at Kaneta.

"Damn it!" Omi cursed under his breath. "What is all this crud? Rust? 'Nother candle." Kaneta quickly produced one. "Well, that explains a lot." Omi sighed. "It's not a combination lock. Why is there so much rust? Lousy Porrian weather." He grumbled.

"In that case, leave it to me." Zeik drew his own katana, and aimed at the lock.

"What? No, you're going to wake everyone..." Zeik charged forward, stabbing his sword into the lock. It barely clicked as it snapped open and fell into Omi's waiting hand. "..Up. Well, you're good." Kaneta broke into a grin.

"As if you didn't know." Zeik smiled back, then over at Omi. "Hurry, my good man. This is taking too long."

"Almost there..." Omi shoved a few more bank notes into his pack, then quietly closed the safe, and replaced the lock as best he could. He gingerly picked up the painting and placed it back in front of the safe as Kaneta snuffed out the candles.

Suddenly, voices came from outside. "Hold it right there!" They all tensed, and remained motionless, waiting for lights and special agents to flood the house. But only a dim glow invaded the window.

"That's coming from outside..." Zeik was the first to observe. Then they dimly heard sounds of fighting. "Crud... Mariko!" Then, heedless of the danger from inside the house, he bolted back toward the window as fast as he could go. He slid down the grappling hook, Kaneta right behind him, with most of the others not too far back, as the household began to stir. The last man unhooked the rope on his way down.

Zeik unsheathed his katana and charged through the underbrush as the sounds of fighting intensified. 'Why did she go so far away?!' He demanded of himself. Soon, screams erupted, but by the time he arrived on the scene, all was quiet. He stood still for a moment, not believing his eyes. Six special agents lay sprawled on the ground, the torches they had carried burning out on the wet ground. They were all clearly dead, while Mariko, breathing with effort, lay in the middle of them. "Mariko!!" He ran up and knelt by her side. "Why didn't you wait for us?!"

"They were almost at... ..the house. I l-led them away from... ..it, and they caught up... I had to give you time... ..time to get away."

"I can't believe you beat six special agents at once! I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you..." She smiled through the pain. "I hope I have... ..brought us much honor. Now, Matuyama Tuvai, take this." Zeik gasped at both the sound of his real name and what she held up.

"It's the Murasama! Why did you bring it here?"

"I always bring it... ..in case you ever need it. You must accept it Tuvai. You must become the force to lead our people. You must... ..do what Goroda would not... ..all those years ago." Then, her eyes began to close. Zeik noticed a disturbing amount of blood flowing out from her side. "I loved you Zeik, Tuvai... ..I hope to meet you again someday..."

"Whoah! Stop speaking in the past tense here!" He shook her gently. "C'mon, you're going to be all right." Only then did he noticed that she was no longer breathing. "NOOOO!!"

Omi walked forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Karma, Matuyama-sama. There was nothing we could do."

Tears began to stream down Zeik's face. "There was plenty we could do! If you hadn't taken so long with the lock...!"

Omi began to get mad too. "How do you ever expect to defeat the northern devils if you cannot even think like us?!" Kaneta put a hand on Omi's shoulder and guided him away.

"He needs some time alone. Now, he can think like us, but he can also think like the northern devils. That is exactly why we will triumph."

Suddenly, Zeik stood up, and held the Murasama above his head. "For Matuyama, my people, and especially for you, Mariko-sama!! I will destroy Guardia!!" The others remained silent for a second, then broke out in cheers.

.

"Mariko-san, it was your karma to die gloriously and live forever. It is mine to be Shogun." - Lord Yoshi Toranaga, _Shogun_

.

Nanaki (at age 16, said): That one's for you, my fellow Wild ARMs fans. Yes, his name is Matuyama "Zeik" Tuvai!

(Nanaki at age 26 says: Inserting an asterisk into the middle of a dramatic scene kind of breaks the tension, dingus. Though if I actually COULD communicate with my younger self, I doubt story advice would be the first thing out of my mouth. I'd probably shout something on the order of, "Tell Brooke Worlton you love her, you idiot!!" Then I'd punch that nervous kid in the face.)


	2. Falling Into Place

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 2**

**Falling Into Place**

By Nanaki

June 1, 1018 A.D.

The tall spires of Guardia Castle broke through the morning fog, sunlight illuminating the high towers, and filtering down to the throne room, where it fell on the faces of a young king and queen. They appeared the picture of health, and quite content. Suddenly, the queen looked around, then slumped down in the throne. "Are you as bored as I am?" Queen Guardia, a.k.a. Nadia, a.k.a. Marle, complained.

King Triggara, a.k.a. Crono, looked up in surprise. "If something doesn't happen here soon, I'm gonna wack out." He agreed, drumming his fingers on the arm of his throne.

"You're just anxious to see all the special agents home aren't you?" She knew what was on his mind.

"Of course. My dad was a special agent, but you knew that. When he was killed, the top brass told us that it was a once in a lifetime thing, but last year, 53 agents were killed."

"I know. I finally got around to reading the papers last night. Isn't that most of them?"

"The majority, anyway. I wanted to be sure all the remaining agents got home safely."

"It almost seems as if something is starting up in Porre..." Nadia whispered.

"Do you know something I don't?" Crono asked her. It wouldn't be the first time. Crono had just taken the throne the previous week, and remembered his final conversation with the ailing King Guardia well...

.

"Crono, you're the best soldier in the kingdom, easily. Probably the world. The armies will always be under your direct control, that's straight."

"Yes sir." Crono had smiled, listening attentively.

"Now, I know that traditionally, the King has all the final say in everything, but, you really don't know that much about running a kingdom! Now, you can give all the orders if your ego is that big, but Nadia has the final say in all political matters. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" Crono didn't complain. But the king had already fallen asleep again.

.

He had passed away the next day, simply from extreme old age. In truth, Crono had been a little relieved to have the responsibility taken off his shoulders. He knew how to fight, and he could do a great job at leading the army. But spending three hours chatting with officials from Choras was not his strong point.

"No. I don't know what's going on down there." Nadia shook her head.

Their ponderings were interrupted as the throne room doors burst open, and their daughter Sira walked into the chamber. She stretched out, as if taking in the large space. "Isn't it great to have all the kids gone?" She smiled up at the thrones.

"Sira, you are one of the kids." Nadia said dryly.

"Mother, I'm almost 18!" She protested. "I mean the little ones. Maro's already off doing who knows what, Nora and Zane are starting their break from school in Choras, and Aliza's staying with Tam over at Lucca's for two weeks."

"If we could just get rid of you too, things would actually be peaceful." Crono teased her.

"Actually, that's why I'm here. I need to get away from the castle for a while too."

"Where are you thinking of going?" Nadia asked, not really paying attention.

"Well, I haven't been to Porre since I was real little, so-"

"I don't know if now is exactly the best time to go." Crono frowned.

"Why? Because you called back the special agents? Please." She dismissed the concern. "Besides, you're letting Maro jaunt all through time in some places that have to be more dangerous than that."

"I think she'll be all right Crono." Nadia tried to encourage him. "You just can't keep a princess locked up in this castle."

Crono smiled. "I suppose you'll be all right. Just keep a low profile, and try to keep from being recognized. Don't even let it slip that you're from Guardia, if possible."

"All right, all right! I think you're being a little paranoid, but okay. I'll start riding out this morning. It shouldn't take too long to get there."

"Good luck." Crono nodded.

"And have a good time!" Nadia added.

.

"Okay people." Zeik whispered in the corner of the main marketplace of Porre. "This is the last of the original money, and thus, our last trip for weapons and supplies. After this, we get ready to move, so get some good stuff."

"Yes sir." The men responded, then drifted off. Kaneta hated this part. Shopping wasn't so bad, but the act he had to put on when shopping was something else. He walked slowly to the weapon shop, and began inspecting the katanas.

"What's a lowly servant like you need with one of those?" The blacksmith walked up to the front.

Kaneta pretended not to understand at first. That was the routine. "Wakarimasen."

"Oh, um..." Both he and the blacksmith knew what was coming, and they both had the same thought: 'I hate pidgin!' But the blacksmith launched into it anyway. "What for youah wantshee sword?"

"Ah... Mass'er say buyee quick quick." Kaneta responded with mock eagerness.

"Need know whatfor mass'er want. Doah can?"

"Can. Wantshee for... ah... chase intruders! Savvy mass'er?"

"That's good enough for me." The blacksmith shrugged. "Savvy." Kaneta handed over the money and took the weapon before he had to speak any more of that idiotic talk. He headed back toward the corner they had started from, seeing Zeik had obtained a wicked looking spear.

"You know how to use that?" He grinned.

"Not really, but Omi was asking about one, and he does."

"So... You say this is it. So when are we planning the attack?"

"We're not planning an attack." Zeik held up his hand before Kaneta could protest. "Tonight, we ride to raid Guardia Castle. After that, I will demand that we be allowed to secede from the Truce. If that is refused, then we will go to an all out war."

"They'll never let us out of the Truce." Kaneta kicked a pebble. "That old Guardia is too set in his ways."

"Didn't you hear?" Zeik was surprised. "The old king finally passed away last week. That hero of time is on the throne now. He might actually see reason."

"He probably would. But he's not the Guardian, is he?"

"No." Zeik frowned. "It still may work."

"You're such a peace lover, even now." Kaneta shook his head. "Get that Murasama ready, and remember what Mariko told you. You have to lead us, whether you personally want to or not. It's your duty."

"Ah yes. Duty. I believe there is far too much emphasis on that word."

"Be careful that the ways of the northern devils don't cloud your thinking." Kaneta warned. "You're one of us, and that's final. I don't want to see any sympathizing here."

"Don't worry, you won't." Zeik made a fist. "What those special agents did to Mariko is still fresh in my mind. Guardia will pay for that, I can assure you."

"Good. But, would you kill the Queen if you had the chance?"

"What? No. I mean, she still has some fairly young kids..."

"See. You're too soft. It's a good thing I'll be there to help you out."

Zeik frowned at the dirt for a minute, then smiled. "Yes. That, I agree with."

.

"It was nothing. I was only doing my duty..." - John Blackthorne, a.k.a. Anjin-san, _Shogun_

.

(Nanaki's note: There's something I should go over here, since it comes up repeatedly. This story is _somewhat_ based in the same reality as Krazy Sam's masterful CT story, The Next Generation. I say somewhat, because in Samantha-san's faniverse, Crono and Marle only had one kid, Maro, and he was born nine years after the game, not four as is implied here. But in that story, Lucca and her husband Vincent have a daughter, Lana, who is basically the same age as Maro, and a son, Tam, whose age I forget at the moment, but is probably pretty little. I'm sure that Samantha-san never intended for Vincent to have once been a special agent, or for Crono and Marle to have a whole brood, so I'm honored that she let me mess around in her reality like that. But then again, every second I ever spent talking to Sammers, or reading her stories, was an honor. Thanks again, Samantha-san! I missed the hell out of you while I was away, I hope you know. I hope we get to talk again soon.)


	3. Guardia Castle Assualt

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 3**

**Guardia Castle Assault**

By Nanaki

Late June 3, Early June 4, 1018 A.D.

"Grappling hooks. Three this time. We'll need to be in and out pretty damn fast." Zeik said quietly. The force of twenty men was all decked out in black clothes, although it didn't seem very necessary at the moment, since the Guardian sentries were doing a pretty crappy job. The grappling hooks clanked lightly as they landed up above. "Quieter!" He hissed.

"Zeik, nobody's ever going to be able to do that as well as Mariko. Face it." Kaneta smiled weakly. "Now what exactly is our target inside?"

"We have to find the library." Zeik stressed.

"They have one? Shouldn't we be heading for the armory or treasury?"

"You'd think so wouldn't you? No, I know what I'm doing here. Matuyama trade secret, for the moment anyway." With that, he hurried up the rope. Despite the large number of guards in Guardia Castle, they escaped detection. Only one guard actually saw them, and he didn't live to tell anyone about it. Omi discovered a map of the castle's many chambers in what used to be the knights quarters, and there was indeed a library behind the king's tower. They headed in that direction immediately.

"So what exactly are you looking for?" Kaneta asked as Zeik began to sort through the many volumes.

"I think I should explain a little. By now, nearly everyone knows and agrees that the first civilization to arise on this planet was not Choras, but a highly advanced culture called Zeal."

"Actually. I didn't know that."

"Of course. You never paid attention to what little schooling we had." Omi goaded him.

"Anyway..." Zeik took back control of the conversation. "Everyone in Zeal could use magic. It now seems that some people today can use it too. Both the king and queen can use magic, for example. Now, most historians say that there are four basic magic types. But it seems that there may be more than that. For example, Holy is the opposite of Shadow. Earth, Light, Jade, Pearl, Space, Star, etc., also seem to exist. There's a ton of types out there. What I'm interested in is an obscure one called summoning."

"So you're looking for a manuscript on summoning." Omi correctly guessed.

"Yes. If one of us can learn how to summon, we can have plenty of extremely powerful creatures on our side, should the need arise."

"See? Even you don't believe they'll let us out of the Truce!" Kaneta pointed at him.

"Shhh! Not really." Zeik's eyes darted among the many titles, then stuck on one. "Here we go." He yanked it off the shelf. "Now let's get out of here." They made their way back toward where they had come in, and quickly rappeled down the ropes. They were just beginning to rush back into the forest, when lights flared. Guardian troops poured out of the woods.

"Hold it." A commanding voice said forcefully. A man with spiky red hair and a scar running down his left cheek walked toward them. Zeik identified him as King Crono Triggara, and gulped. "I'm not exactly used to having invaders in my castle." Kaneta slowly began to draw his sword. "As a result, there's really no precedent. Just hand over the man who killed my guard, and the rest of you can go, this time."

"Huh?" Zeik was shocked. He slowly walked up to the man Crono was asking for and nudged him forward. "Go ahead." He whispered. "We'll be back to bust you out." The man reluctantly stepped forward, and the guards seized him, but to Zeik's surprise, didn't even beat him up.

"Okay then. But one thing before you go-"

"I knew it!" Kaneta shouted. He drew his katana, and most of the men quickly followed suit.

"Well someone's had a little too much coffee." Crono observed. "No, what I was going to ask is, what do you guys want?"

Now Zeik was really surprised. "Well, I was going to send a letter, but I guess this will get things moving faster. Your highness, we want permission for all peoples native to the Porre area to leave the Truce. We lived there long before any Guardian soldiers came and forced us to live under policies we don't agree with."

Crono shrugged. "That sounds reasonable. I don't have a problem with it. I'll bring it up with the Queen and see what we can do. We'll have an answer for you in the morning."

Zeik's jaw dropped. "You mean it?"

"Sure. I don't believe in hanging on to centuries of tradition when the tradition is stupid. Didn't you notice that I cancelled Chainsaw Juggling Days down in Porre?"

"Uh, no. We don't usually go."

"You cancelled it? Aw, man!" Kaneta threw his sword at the ground.

'Of course.' Zeik grinned a little. "Well your highness, thank you for your objective judgement."

"No problem. But then, I'm not the Guardian here. If you guys show yourselves, I'll let you know what happens."

"Cool. Uh, sir. We'll be leaving now, and, sorry about your guard. I hope he's the only casualty here."

"So do I. Take care of yourselves. I'll be seeing you."

.

"Nadia." Crono nudged his wife, trying to gently shake her awake. "Nadia?" Still no response. "Marle!"

"What is it?" She rubbed her eyes.

"We have a rather urgent matter of state here." She just looked at him tiredly. "Apparently, a group of native Porrians wants out of the Truce."

She sat up, instantly wide awake. "Never!"

"What? Why not? I don't see why there should be a problem."

"Crono, one of the first things I was ever told about the kingdom was to never let any faction, no matter how small, out of the Truce. I've had that message hammered into my brain all my life. A lot of people died to make the kingdom what it is today."

"The kingdom isn't perfect." Crono argued. "These people are serious, Nadia. We may be provoking a war if we don't allow them to leave."

"I realize that. There is no way. No one can ever leave."

"No way at all?"

"That's right. If anyone leaves the Truce, then the Truce is over. We'll all go back to dozens of warring factions like there were over 1,000 years ago. It will cause a much bigger war if we do let them out."

Crono grimaced. "All right. It's your call, after all. But I think you're making a big mistake here."

"I don't have a choice in the matter." She frowned too. "This is the way it has to be."

.

June 4

"I don't think waiting around here was such a good idea Zeik-san." Omi said as he polished his katana.

"I agree with you Omi, but I want to find out, so I know whether to go home happy or to prepare for battle."

"You really think they'll let us go?" Kaneta almost laughed. "No way! I'm sure it'll be battle."

They didn't have time for more debate, as King Triggara stepped into the secluded clearing they had set up as a meeting place. Zeik was surprised to see that no guards followed him. But judging from what he had heard about Crono, he wouldn't need any. The expression on his face told Zeik all he needed to know. "I'm sorry you guys, but I'm afraid Guardian law simply will not let anyone out of the Truce, no matter how good a reason they may have."

"We are prepared to fight for our freedom, you know."

"I'm aware of that. There's nothing I can do."

"Uh, aren't you the King?" Kaneta demanded.

"Yes, but I only give the orders as far as battle is concerned. The Queen has the final say about all things political."

"I can't believe this! You let a woman boss you around? You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Um... Can you stand aside here?" Crono asked Zeik. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to hurt this guy."

Zeik began to protest, but Kaneta drew his sword and waved him aside. "Go ahead Zeik. I'll cover your retreat." Zeik frowned and then left the scene, Omi following close behind. "Okay gramps, let's see what you've got!"

"Oh, you'll see quite plainly." Crono drew his own katana, the Swallow, out of his belt. He suddenly wished that he had Rainbow, but first of all, Maro had it, and probably needed it more than he did, and second, he had decided that using Rainbow on ordinary people would be overkill. Kaneta charged forward, and Crono easily blocked his opening thrust. He slashed downward viciously, but Kaneta jumped upward, both avoiding the stroke, and setting up for a wicked downward slash.

Crono rolled to the side, but Kaneta managed to draw blood in his shoulder. Crono quickly struck out to the side, cutting through Kaneta's relatively light armor and into his side. "Eyaah!" Kaneta quickly slashed upward with a return stroke, which was blocked by Crono. "Ngh! Hai!" He then went for a low blow, but Crono jumped up, and he hit the dirt. "Aaugh!" He roared in frustration.

"Um... Excuse me..." Crono backed away. Kaneta looked up through angry eyes. "What's up with all the noise?"

"What're you talking about?!" Kaneta demanded, trying to staunch the blood flowing from his wound.

"You're like, constantly screaming there. Is that part of your fighting style or something?"

Kaneta glared at him. "It's just something we do."

Crono smiled. "Ah, in that case, Hee-yaaah!!" He lunged forward, and the Swallow smashed up against Kaneta's blade. It wasn't made cheaply, but it was still no match for Melchior's master craftsmanship, and shattered instantly. Kaneta looked down at the jagged remains protruding from the hilt, and his jaw dropped.

He finally just had to smile. "You're not bad gramps. I'll see you around." With that, he jumped straight up into the trees, and quickly vanished from sight.

"Wait!" Crono called quickly. "What's the name of your kingdom anyway?!"

"No one remembers. That's how bad it is." A bitter voice returned. "We just call it, the land of Goroda." Then, he was really gone.

"Crud." Crono shook his head. He stormed back into the castle, then shouted. "I want a meeting of all my officers in a half hour. Like it or not, we're going to war!!"

.

Exactly one half hour later, the war room was filled with Crono's top men. They all just sat expectantly, waiting for him to start. They had all learned long ago that when Crono was around, you got your orders and did them, without a lot of talk. "Okay people," Crono launched into the conversation. "I want to end this as quickly as possible. The best way I can think of to do that is to throw so many men into the battle that we'll be able to completely surround and disarm every last enemy soldier, rather than having a lot of casualties on both sides. Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing just how many native Porrians may be hiding in the woods down there. I think the safest way to play would be to recruit some more soldiers from outside Guardia to help in the battle. Any ideas?"

The officers murmured and shook their heads. "Sir, Porre won't be any help, and Choras is pretty peaceful these days. Medina's always pretty mellow too."

Crono nodded silently, then his face brightened so much the troops could practically see a light bulb coming on over his head. "Ozzie!" He shouted.

"Sir?" The troops were confused.

"I know Ozzie's family would never have been pleased with the way things turned out. Ozzie VIII still lives down there, and I'm willing to bet that he has his own faction lined up, waiting for an opportune moment to strike, rather like the people we're fighting."

"You want us to recruit the descendant of one of the worst fiends in history to battle a faction that has every right to be what it is?"

"No, I'll do that part myself." Crono smiled. "Ozzie may have been bad, but he wasn't much without Magus. Besides, this isn't the same guy. I'll go talk to him. You guys muster all the extra support you can from the townspeople. Talk to the former special agents about conditions down there. Vincent should be a big help. I'll see you all when I get back from Medina."

.

June 6

Sira tucked back her hair as the wind kicked up. She was making good progress through Fiona's Forest, on her seemingly tireless mount. But then, the horse had already had a day to rest on the way. She had meant to go directly to Porre, but she had stopped by Lucca's house the first afternoon to see her little sister. Then she had spent nearly two hours calming Aliza down from her tantrum after Tam stepped on her sand castle on Vortex Point. After that, it had really been too late to go on, and she ended up staying at Lucca's overnight.

She had also forgotten how beautiful Fiona's Forest could be, and had done a lot more sightseeing than she originally planned. But she was nearly out of the forest now, and she would be in Porre a few hours after dark. Suddenly, she noticed a large number of people on the trail ahead of her, surrounding a man on foot.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" One of the riders demanded. "Straying a little far from the killing grounds, aren't you Zeik?"

"Shut the hell up!" The man on foot yelled up at him. "You are totally surrounded you know. I'd advise you to be on your way." Sira began to recognize the riders as special agents, although she had no clue who the guy was.

"You could be bluffing." The same rider spoke again. "And even if you're not, you'd be dead before your men could do a thing." The agent drew his sword with his right hand, and pulled out a gun with his left. The man on foot just stared at him defiantly.

"Hold it!" Sira cried. The agents glared at her.

"Just move it along miss. You have no clue what's happening here."

"That's true enough." She admitted. "But you need to let him go."

"Shut up! This guy is a-!"

"I don't care! I see a totally unfair fight here! Let him go now!" The agents glared at her even more fiercely, then just laughed. The leader cocked the gun he was carrying. Sira sighed, then pulled back her hood and let her long hair fall across her shoulders. She also took off her left glove, revealing a rather distinctive ring. "Let him go now, by order of Princess Sira Triggara of Guardia!!"

The agents' jaws dropped, then the leader glared at her again. "She may look like the Princess, but-"

"Oh, shut up!" The man next to him elbowed him. In case things turned ugly, Sira raised up her hand, and it began to glow brightly. "Whether she really is the princess or not, she's got the power! I think enough of us have died already, don't you?"

The leader lowered the gun, then turned his mount northward. "Very well. But I think you're going to regret this Princess. I really do." The agents all turned their horses, then galloped down the road. Sira slowly got off her mount.

"Are you okay? Why were those guys after you?"

Once again, Zeik could hardly believe what had just happened. 'First the king turns out to be a cool guy, and now the princess saves my ass! I feel bad about what's going to happen...' "Thanks for the help. Those guys are the last special agents around here. They enjoy harrasing anyone whose skin is darker than theirs."

"I don't think you'll have to be worrying about them much longer. But what did they mean about the "killing grounds?"

"Oh damn." Zeik cursed. Then Sira's eyes widened as he drew his sword. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to repay your kindness by taking you hostage."

"What the...? I think not." Her hand began glowing again. Suddenly, a hand was clamped over her mouth, and her hands were forced behind her back. She struggled to get free, and saw a large object being held menacingly over her head.

"Stop!" Zeik shouted. The object was lowered, and many men clad in black clothes dropped down from the trees. "I wasn't kidding about being surrounded by my men. I just didn't feel like throwing my life away."

Sira finally struggled free of the hand covering her mouth. "Who are you?" She gasped.

"My name is Matuyama T-... Well, just call me Zeik."

"Matuyama?" She gasped, remembering her history lessons. "Aw, hell."

.

"Never trust nobody." - Dale Gribble, _King of the Hill_


	4. Hostage

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 4**

**Hostage**

By Nanaki

Late June 6, Early June 7

"Hey, you don't need to look so depressed." Zeik told Sira as they rode past the outskirts of Porre. The fog was thick, and what few lights remained on in the town were barely visible. "It's not like we're going to kill you or anything. A dead hostage is no good, after all. Right Kaneta?" Kaneta only snorted in response from his position slightly behind Zeik.

Sira remained silent for a moment, but she felt the need to speak. "It's not that. I just can't believe how stupid I was. I mean, not only announcing that I was from Guardia, but that I was the Princess. Now that was stupid."

"Yeah." Zeik smiled a little. "It really was. But I am thankful for your help. It was looking pretty ugly there for a second."

"Thankful enough to let me go?"

"Not a chance." His grin broadened. "I may need your help, actually. I saw that you can use magic. What types?"

"Lightning, Ice, some Shadow, a little Jade..." She suddenly clamped her jaw shut. Why was she telling him everything, and offering no resistance? For some reason, Zeik just seemed really easy to talk to.

"Quite impressive. Have you ever heard of something called summoning?"

'Keep your mouth closed, self! Don't tell him any more!' "A little, but I don't know the details."

"Basically, it allows the caster to summon really huge creatures into the heart of a battle, then teleport them away before they can come to any harm."

"And you want me to help you summon something to send against the people in Porre? Yeah, right!"

"No, no!" Zeik shook his head. "I take it you are unaware of our situation."

"What situation?"

"My people were forced into the Truce against their will back when it was formed. Until recently, the special agents assigned by the king kept us from showing any resistance."

"So why did that change recently?"

"They pissed me off royally. I'd prefer not to discuss that, if it's all the same to you."

"Okay. Well, whatever you've been doing worked. My dad recalled every last special agent from the Porre area."

"You're kidding!" He gave her a funny look, but she looked serious. "I wondered what they were doing in Fiona's Woods... Anyway, we went up to Guardia a few days back, and I asked your father to let us out of the Truce. He agreed, but your mother had a different opinion about it. Then Kaneta pissed him off, they ended up fighting, and we left."

"Yes... I've always been told that I must never let anyone out of the Truce. But I never agreed with that policy. So, are you at war or what?"

"It looks that way." Zeik sighed. "And I figure our only chance is if we take the offensive. That's why I want to learn about summoning."

Sira looked at the ground. "Sounds like a worthy cause, actually. But I wouldn't help you do something that would kill anyone from the kingdom."

"They're going to be killing us!" Kaneta shouted.

"Shhhut up!" Omi rode up beside him and elbowed him in the ribs. "He might be able to make her help us." Kaneta just grumbled in response as they headed deep into what had once been known as the Cursed Woods.

"There are going to be a few casualties, yes." Zeik admitted. "But I figure our best bet is to overwhelm and conquer them as fast as possible. A summoned monster would help us do that, and a quick battle should reduce casualties."

"Maybe..." Sira paused. "Hold on a minute."

"What?" Zeik looked around.

"There's something weird up ahead..."

"Hey, nobody's ever managed to track us this far before."

"There's a first time for everything." She dismounted, picked up a rock, and threw it down the trail. Suddenly, lightning bolts erupted from the ground, and coursed through the trees, barely missing them even from this distance.

"What the...? How did you know?"

"I thought I felt some weird magic waves around here. I figured that you guys know nothing about magic, so..." Zeik looked at the ground, as if concentrating hard.

"Okay... That does it! If you want to go, you can!"

"What the hell?!" Kaneta burst out.

"That's twice she's saved my ass! I say she can go!"

"You're crazy man! Now if we lose, we'll all be captured, with no way out!"

"What would happen if you lost the normal way?" Sira couldn't help asking.

"Then we'd just all kill ourselves." Kaneta said simply. She gasped. "What?"

"Just because you lost, you'd stop living?"

"The dishonor would be too great. Some might stick around if Zeik survives, but for most of us, this is it."

Sira looked at the ground, then she appeared to be concentrating too. "Um... If you all don't mind, I think I'll stick around here for a while." Zeik's jaw dropped.

"What the hell?!" Kaneta instantly drew his sword. "Zeik, I think we got a spy on our hands."

"She is the princess." Zeik told him. "I studied up on Guardia enough to recognize her. But I have to ask, Sira - It is all right if I call you Sira, right? - why the hell would you want to hang around with us, when you have the option to go?"

"I can't let my parents be the cause of so many deaths. I'll stop them, if it's possible to do so."

"Hey, don't worry about us." Kaneta grinned. "We're going to kick much butt when the battle comes."

"Actually Kaneta, I am pretty worried about it. This isn't the old days. We don't have other daimyos to call on for support. It's just me, the Murasama, and the bravery of all you people." Zeik sighed, then looked up at Sira. "If you stay, does that mean you'll help us with the summoning?"

"I suppose, as long as you try to keep the casualties down."

"I always do, except where the special agents are concerned."

"The agents I met seemed like jerks. I might have to agree with you there."

"So, let me get this straight. You're basically joining up with us, and promising to help us fight against Guardia?" It did sound pretty weird when he put it like that.

"I suppose. It's a just cause, and there's something about this situation..." 'Actually, there's something about you too, Zeik...'

.

"Treachery!!" - Glenn, _Chrono Trigger_


	5. Mystic Mayhem

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 5**

**Mystic Mayhem**

By Nanaki

June 12

Crono slowly stepped off the ferry, taking in the sight of Medina in the early morning. Sunlight glinted off the waves, and he could see the mountain containing Heckran Cave in the distance. Hopefully, Ozzie had picked up where Heckran left off. Once again, he wondered what he was getting himself into. This seemed pretty insane. But the mystics were the only people likely to have a large amount of manpower available. He quickly stepped up his pace and headed for the mayor's manor.

Ozzie was lounging around as usual, refusing to do any of the work. He looked exactly like his evil ancestor, except for his much bluer skin. There wasn't much the other mystics could do about his laziness, as his sheer size made him nearly immovable. "Ozzie VIII, let's make a deal!" Crono announced.

Ozzie glanced up disdainfully. "Why would I want to make a deal with you, human?" Then his eyes widened. "Hey! You're the one who killed Heckran!"

"True enough." Crono admitted. "But I think you'll be interested in what I have to offer."

"What could you possibly offer that would interest me?" The other mystics began to pay attention as well.

"The chance to fight some humans."

"What the hell?!" Ozzie actually moved his girth, and leaned forward. "Are you serious here?"

"Totally." Crono just smiled.

"Meet me at the Forest Ruins at noon. We'll discuss it in detail." With that, Ozzie waddled out of the house.

.

Crono arrived at the Forest Ruins right on time. He wondered why Ozzie had made him wait, but maybe he wanted to put Crono in his place. Or maybe it had taken him this long to move his fat butt up here. "Good. You're here." Crono whirled around to find Ozzie right behind him. "So, you want me to fight some humans huh? What gives?"

"They're in rebellion against the Truce. I figure if we can overpower them by a large margin, we can simply surround and disarm them, with relatively few casualties. I know that's not exactly your style, but I'm hoping you'll be willing to help."

Ozzie laughed. "You act like you're talking to the original Ozzie. Maybe he wouldn't have agreed, but I sure as hell will. Do you know how long it's been since our faction saw any action? Not since Heckran's time, when that good for nothing imp somehow managed to gain power. I'm still not real clear on why that happened..." Crono remained silent, hoping his expression gave nothing away. "So who exactly will we be fighting?"

"A group of native Porrians, who want out of the Truce, and pretty bad, it seems. They've killed 53 of my special agents in the last year."

"Native Porrians..." Ozzie thought for a minute. "This wouldn't happen to be the Matuyama clan, would it?" Crono raised his eyebrows. "What? You're surprised I actually know something?"

"Yes." Crono answered both questions at once. "I just hope you have enough troops so that we can swarm them."

"That won't work." Ozzie shook his head. Crono looked surprised again. "Some of our ancestors fought those buggers in the years right before the cease-fire. If they lose, they just kill themselves. Unless you can actually throw enough men at them to totally surround every last soldier."

"They kill themselves? Why?" Crono was aghast.

"Just their way of thinking. If they lose, they're dishonored, and life's not worth living. Although the leader will stick around to make sure they'll always be able to rise up again some day."

"That's really not good..." Crono frowned.

"And another thing." Ozzie interrupted his thoughts. "I don't think these guys will be as big a pushover as you think. Those Matuyamas fight hellagood, to judge from the record."

"You will help us though?"

"Of course!" Ozzie laughed. "I'd never pass up the chance to fight humans, no matter what the conditions! As long as I have a chance at winning, anyway. There's no invasion plans for Guardia, if you're worried about that."

"I assumed that." Crono nodded.

"Now, if you'll come this way, I want you to meet some of my associates." Ozzie led him back through the trees at a surprising pace, until they reached the bottom of Mount Medina, which wasn't far from the remains of the North Palace. Ozzie guided him down to a cave, and led him inside. Crono noticed that the walls of the cave soon turned to dark bricks.

"This is the original Ozzie's fortress!" He exclaimed.

"I was wondering when you'd notice." Ozzie laughed. "Yes, an earthquake sunk Ozzie's fortress in 847 A.D. Ozzie V teleported it across the bay to here, under Mount Medina. I guess he figured it would be more secure underground, I don't know." They arrived at a large door, and Ozzie began to push it aside. "I want you to meet my two top men." He pushed the door open to reveal a tall mystic.

"Gaah! Slash!" Crono shouted. Ozzie opened the door all the way, revealing another mystic just beside the first. "Gaah! Another Slash!" Indeed, both mystics bore a remarkable resemblance to Slash. Except one was decked out in green armor with gold trimming, and the other in brown armor with green trimming. But they had the same bluish purple skin.

"Not quite. These two are descendants of Slash. I want you to meet Pillage," the mystic in green bowed, "and Plunder." The mystic in brown nodded his head.

"Pleased to meet a warrior like you, sir." Pillage nodded. Plunder just snorted. "Will Yakra be joining us?" He turned to Ozzie.

"There's ANOTHER Yakra?" Crono groaned.

"There's always another Yakra." Ozzie said offhand. "No Pillage. Yakra has too much of a personal vendetta against Crono. He won't help. Anyway, Crono wants us to bash some human heads for him." Crono grunted. "Um... Well, he wants us to fight them into submission, but I imagine we'll get to bash some heads along the way. How many men are you willing to muster anyway?"

"Well, I can throw in over 300 henches. They're the best fighters. 150 Gargoyles, 100 each of the Gnashers and Naga-ettes, and probably over 1,000 imps." Pillage outlined his forces.

Plunder began to smile. "To fight humans, everything I got."

"That is a significant number." Crono smiled. "How soon can you get over to Guardia?"

"By the end of today." Ozzie smiled.

"Today?! But how?"

"They call us mystics for a reason, you know. We'll be over as soon as we can round up all our telekinesis masters."

"Can I hitch a ride with you?" Crono asked, smiling.

"Sure. We're allies, for the moment."

"All right then. We've got a war to plan."

"Yes!" Ozzie shouted gleefully, along with Pillage and Plunder. "A war against the humans!!"

.

"Power is all that matters, and I've got the power!" - Flea, _Chrono Trigger_


	6. Preparations

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 6**

**Preparations**

By Nanaki

June 13

"Come in." Nadia called as she heard a knock on her door, not putting down the book she was reading. But she did as soon as she saw who the visitor was. "Lucca!" Indeed, Lucca stood in the doorway, her purple hair hanging down to her knees.

"Yes. I brought back your little troublemaker." She stepped aside, and Aliza ran into the room, straight into Nadia's arms.

"Oh! I've missed you. Did you have a good time at Lucca's?" Nadia sat the wriggling girl on her lap.

"Yeah, except when Tam smashed my sand castle."

"It's a good thing Sira was there to calm her down." Lucca breathed a sigh of relief yet again.

"Oh? Sira stopped by your place?"

"For one night. Where is she now anyway?"

"She's allegedly in Porre, although I would have expected her back before now."

"In Porre? Uh... That isn't exactly the safest place to be at the moment."

"True enough, but Sira can take care of herself. Besides, we've been in much more danger than this, and I'm sure Maro is right now too. I've got enough to worry about with Nora and Zane coming back from Choras in the next couple days anyway."

"Okay, I suppose. She is almost eighteen."

Nadia laughed. "Now you sound just like her!"

"Well anyway, I have something here to show Crono, but you might as well look too, since you seem to be at the root of all this." Nadia frowned at the remark as she looked at the piece of paper Lucca held forward. But then she quickly forgot about it. "Whoah. Now that's a big gun. It looks like Schala's pulsar cannon..."

"Yeah. It's based on her specifications. When we use it in the battle, it'll be set to stun, although the people it's hitting won't know that. I'm just not as bloodthirsty as Schala is."

"Few people are." Nadia sighed. "Except maybe Janus, back when he was Magus."

Suddenly, Aliza shouted, "Booooooorrrrriiiinngg!!" Nadia turned to glare at her. "Oh sure, kill the messenger." She complained, then ran out of the room.

Lucca looked up from the paper, and regarded Nadia strangely. "Why did you have so many kids anyway?" She demanded good naturedly.

"What do you mean "did?" Nadia demanded back. "I started early, and I plan to go on as long as I can."

"You started early all right. And so did Sira, actually. It was lucky she lived, being so early."

"Uh... We never told you about that?" Nadia asked apprehensively.

"About what?" Lucca looked at her strangely.

"I guess not. Okay then, Sira wasn't premature."

"But... There really wasn't time before the wedding. You two were constantly in the public eye. And there was certainly no time before that."

"That's where you're wrong, I'm afraid. The night we saved Crono, you and Magus left us alone up there after a while, and, well, it got cold. Sira's October 19th birthday is pretty much right on schedule."

Lucca gasped. "My, my. The king would be spinning in his grave if he knew that."

"The king would be spinning in his grave if he knew how reluctant Crono was to resist these people." Nadia countered. With that, Crono appeared at the doorway.

"Hello ladies. Our new allies have been keeping me busy all day, so I couldn't get up here before."

"Where have you been, anyway? And what do you mean, our new allies?" Nadia asked him.

"I found a force that's quite willing to help us out. I want you to meet their leader, although I think you have before." Crono stepped back to reveal Ozzie standing by the door.

"Ozzie!!" Nadia and Lucca both shrieked.

"Okay..." Lucca calmed down. "NOW the king is spinning in his grave."

.

June 14

"I just know this is his way of getting back at me for making him fight this war!" Nadia complained as she watched Lucca assemble the modified Pulsar Cannon. Vincent was standing guard at the bottom of the hill, telling some of the troops about his days as a special agent. Near the entrance to Zenan bridge, some of Nadia's archers and Lucca's marksmen were practicing their aim. Guardia castle was dimly visible across the river and to the north. Nadia decided to change the subject. "Whatever happened to Dorino anyway?"

"The Shadows nailed it, remember?" Lucca said, not really paying attention. "Or maybe you don't. We did have to use a Chrono Trigger to get you back after that little fiasco." Nadia frowned. "Uh... hand me that conduit, would you?"

"This one?" Nadia picked up the long tube, and handed it to Lucca, accidentaly smacking the back end against a computer monitor behind her. It began to spin around wildly, just as a call from Ozzie came in.

"Queen Nadia?" His blue, bloated face asked as the monitor whirled past. Receiving no response, he tried again. "Queen Nadia!!"

"Will someone turn off the rotating fat guy?" Lucca called to the air as she screwed in the conduit. Nadia steadied the monitor and pushed a button on the side.

"Ah, there you are. Is the Pulsar Cannon finished yet?"

"Getting there." Lucca called.

"Getting there?" Ozzie began to turn red in the face. "Crono wants it finished as soon as possible! The Matuyamas could strike at any moment, you know."

Nadia frowned at him. "First off, that's King Crono to you, next, Lucca's working as fast as she can, and last, I've been wondering why they haven't struck already!"

"Why you-!" Ozzie began, but Nadia turned the monitor off.

"Were we just yelled at by a pot roast?" Lucca giggled.

"That, or something similar." Nadia had to laugh too. "At least that Pillage turned out to be fairly civil. I can't say the same for Plunder and Ozzie."

"I'm starting to wish the reason they're here would show up, so we could get this mess over with."

"I do wonder what's keeping those Porrians. Well, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

.

"I think I've got it!" Zeik burst into his "house," which was really a small cave carved into the rock. Sira looked up from where she was poring over some musty manuscripts. "The perfect monster for summoning!" Sira had figured out summoning fairly easily, and had summoned some imps and a Nu, but they had needed something better than that. Zeik and his men had gone in search of some reference to anything more powerful.

"Okay. What do I have to do?"

He held out an ancient hide, with writing and drawings in a faded black pigment. "These are known as Weapons of the Planet. Apparently, they were monsters that could be summoned by the planet itself, in times of trouble. If we can get any one of these, well, that's pretty much it!"

"What do you mean, they "were" monsters? What are they now?"

"I think they're all dead, unless I'm greatly mistaken."

"That's going to take an awful lot of power."

"Yeah, but just think! These things are huge, and have ton of powerful magic..."

Sira sighed. "Well, I can give it a shot. If I'm going to do this, I might as well go all out. Which one is the most powerful?"

"Here." Zeik pointed to a decidedly fierce looking creature. "That one is called the Surge Weapon. It's the leader, I think. Over 50 feet tall in basic mode."

She whistled appreciatively. "Yeah, that would pretty much do it for you. I don't know if I can command enough energy, but I'll give it my best shot."

Zeik smiled. "Thank you. I know this isn't the easiest thing for you to do, fighting against your own people..."

"Like I said, this is a stupid war. It should never have happened. I'm trying to help end it fast."

"You know, you're pretty cool Sira."

She smiled a little. "You're pretty cool too, even though part of me is screaming that I should kill you."

"Whoah. Um, thank you for not doing that." Zeik scratched the back of his head nervously. "You know, I kind of want to ask you out, but, uh, I'll sort of be beaten to death if I show my face anywhere around Porre."

"Hmm... I think I'd accept, were you able to."

"That's good to know." The smile returned to his face. The impending awkward silence was interrupted as Kaneta walked into the abode.

"Hey 'Eta." Sira called genially.

"What?!" He suddenly looked incredibly angry, and a vein seemed to throb on his forehead.

"Um, Kan?" She gulped, wondering what his problem was.

"Chill man." Zeik put a restraining hand on Kaneta's shoulder. "She didn't know what that meant. She's not saying that."

With effort, he managed to control himself. "Zeik, you better take a break from all this magic to teach her a little about us. Someone else might not be so slow to draw." Then he stormed back out of Zeik's place.

"What did I say?" Sira asked quietly.

"I don't think it's overly important. Just make sure not to call anyone else that."

"Okay. You know, I'm kind of in over my head here."

"We all are." Zeik grimaced. "This whole mess is like trying to breathe underwater. You know it's possible, 'cause other things can do it, you just don't know how."

.

"So who summoned you?" - Vigo, _The Origin of Mount Woe_

.

(Nanaki's note: Just thought I'd point out that Zeik's "trying to breathe underwater" line is the only piece of dialogue I ever wrote specifically with the intention of wanting to get it on the "Fanfic Quotes" section of Icy's site. Needless to say, no one ever recommended it as a quote. Yet a line from Tempo Trigger that I wrote barely a month later showed up there before very long. Oh well, that's irony for you.)


	7. When Chaos Reigns, It Pours!

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 7**

**When Chaos Reigns, It Pours!**

By Nanaki

Late June 16

"They've got Zenan Bridge sealed up tight. If we want to cross, we're going to have to fight." Omi informed Zeik as he looked through his binoculars. "Several hundred men, and with this dense forest, there's probably a lot more not too far away."

"We've got more than several hundred men here." Zeik grinned. "How quickly can we get across?"

"If we don't stop to take prisoners..." Sira shook her head strongly. "Um... Well, I think this is where the battle is going to be."

Zeik sighed, and his smile vanished. "I suppose. I was hoping we could get closer to Guardia Castle."

"You will, eventually." Sira assured him.

"Holy...!" Omi suddenly cursed. "Zeik, take a look at who just arrived on the scene!"

Zeik picked up the binoculars and scanned the bridge area. He spotted a very recognizable individual organizing the defences. "Th... That's Vincent!"

"What?!" Kaneta jumped up. "The head of the special agents Vincent?! The Vincent who's men killed our parents?!"

"Yes, that would be the one." Zeik replied, regaining his composure.

"If Vincent's here, Lucca can't be far away." Sira informed them. "And my parents probably are close by too."

"Can you do the summon right now?"

"I'll try..." Sira closed her eyes, and concentrated deeply for several minutes, before sighing. "I'm sorry. There's just not enough power in the area."

"Would there be enough power somewhere else?"

"I can't say. It's a distinct possibility."

"Hmm... I suppose we should save it for when we really need it. Well, there's no reason not to attack now. Men, ready your arms!" The call was passed back through the field. Zeik slowly walked to the top of nearby rise, so nearly all of his men could see him. He slowly drew his ancestors' katana, and raised it high. "This is the Murasama! In the name of Matuyama, I will use it to destroy those who have oppressed us for a thousand years!! Now, forward!"

"Matuyama!!" The ancient battle cry echoed across the field. By this time, the Guardian soldiers had of course detected their presence, and hurriedly assembled to meet the charge. Zeik sighed as his men surged past him, and pushed him back. Now would hardly be the time to talk them out of protecting him, but still, he wished he could be at the front with Omi and Kaneta.

.

Vincent rushed up the hill to where Lucca, Nadia, and Crono stood by the Pulsar Cannon. "Is this thing ready to go?"

"Yes. It's completely charged up." Lucca reassured him. He nodded, then began to charge down the hill. "Hey! Where are you off to?"

Vincent paused momentarily. "Those bastards, or their parents, at least, killed some of my best friends way back when I was in the service! I'm not just going to stand up here!" He reached back, and pulled out a rather large gun. Lucca had modified her gun designs over the years, so they were no longer the odd, bulky things they had been at first. The weapon Vincent loaded now was long, sleek, and packed a lot more power. It was also possible to fire many shots in a short amount of time, simply by swinging the gun in a circle after used so as to load up a new shell.

"All right, but be careful." Vincent nodded, then charged into the fray. Crono viewed the scene carefully.

"All right, they're close enough now." He judged the distance between the Matuyama clan and the Guardian troops. "Signal Ozzie. We've got a surprise for them." Then Crono began to charge down the hill too.

"Now where are you going?" Nadia demanded.

"I'm one of the few people with enough skill to disarm the leaders without killing them! I have to help out!"

.

Kaneta and Omi, and the men right behind them, hacked their way through the initial resistance with relative ease. The Guardian troops had obviously never seen battle before, while they had had a lifetime of training, plus plenty of real life experience with special agents. They didn't charge right for the main mass of men, coming from the Dorino coast, but rather, straight for Zenan Bridge. Even after running into heavy resistance, they continued to progress steadily, with Kaneta and Omi not even touched by one enemy blade. Of course, Omi's incredible reach with his spear helped that cause, but it still took skill while they were nearly completely surrounded.

Suddenly, when it seemed that they were in the clear, a white light blinded them, and they stopped in their tracks. When they could see again, three blue skinned creatures stood in front of them. "You take care of these guys, I'll go after the Matuyama." The largest of them said, then the white light flashed again, and he was gone.

"Whoever you are, I'd advise you to get out of our way, now." Kaneta growled.

"Oh, I think you've got it backwards." The one in brown armor growled back. "You're in our way. Isn't that right Pillage?"

"You got it Plunder." The one in green responded. "We're going to carve our way to your leader, whether you like it or not!" With that, Pillage launched himself at Kaneta, and Plunder at Omi. Omi's spear was not quick enough to parry Plunder's vicious strokes, so he quickly dropped it and drew his katana. The four opponents battled back and forth, each swing of the sword being met by an equal swing. "This is getting us nowhere!" Pillage cursed. "Plunder, time is of the essence."

"For once brother, I agree with you. Time to unleash our power!" The two mystics jumped back for a second, then suddenly, fire roared down their swords as if they had just dunked them in gasoline. "Pillage, Fire Strike now!"

"Affirmative brother! Heyaaahhh!!" They both jumped at Omi, who raised his katana to defend. The flaming swords shattered his blade and carved deep into his skin, the fire cauterizing the gaping wounds even as the swords made them.

"Aaauuugghhh!!" Omi collapsed to the ground.

Plunder looked scornfully down at Omi's broken form. "I think that's enough for the opening salvo. Let's go see what Ozzie's up to." With that, they both teleported away.

"Omi-san!" Kaneta ran up and kneeled by him, heedless of the few Guardian soldiers still around. "Are you going to be all right?"

"I am all right." Omi assured him, slowly rising to kneeling position himself. "It was quite a shock, is all. I thought I could hold them off."

"I thought you could too..." Kaneta frowned. "Can you stand? I think those guys are going after Zeik!"

.

Pillage and Plunder arrived at Ozzie's position farther down the field just in time to see him fry a dozen Matuyama troops at once with his own unique fire spell. "Ozzie, my man!" Plunder ran up to him. "That was most cool. How're they fighting?"

"The Matuyama clan is kicking the Guardians' butts."

"Is that their leader I see over there?" Pillage pointed to where Zeik was running forward, surrounded by his men.

"Yep. He's the kind of guy you just have to beat without magic, out of respect, and I don't care to tangle with him directly."

"You want us to handle him?" Pillage asked.

"No." Ozzie shook his head. "We need to get back to the front to lead our men in. They definitely need our help. Right now, in fact."

"Do I see a white lady over there?" Pillage squinted.

"I dunno. Let's get going though."

Plunder grinned as Zeik neared his first taste of battle; an especially sturdy group of Guardians had clashed up against his men, and was actually breaking through. "Aw, but the leader hasn't done anything yet! You know when he does, it'll be really good!"

"Let's go, Plunder!" Ozzie snapped.

As Plunder turned to begin teleporting, an exceptionally loud cry rang across the field. "Heeee-yaaaaaawwwwwhhhhh!!" Plunder stopped his own magic as Ozzie and Pillage disappeared. Turning quickly, he saw over a third of the Guardians lay sprawled on the ground, and the rest were dropping their weapons and kneeling in surrender. Zeik looked extremely tired, but held his sword forward in a ready position.

'I missed the whole thing! Damn it!'

"Now Plunder!" Ozzie reappeared and grabbed him, then teleported both of them away.

.

"I'm not like that. You see, I like to fight fair." - Rubicant, _Final Fantasy IV_


	8. Independence Day

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 8**

**Independence Day**

By Nanaki

Late June 16, Early June 17

"You're killing too many of them!" Sira exclaimed as she took in the damage Zeik had just caused.

"Not so!" He exclaimed, breathing heavily. He picked up one man who was sprawled on the ground. "Hey you? Are you dead?"

"Not yet." The man replied weakly. "Seriously wounded, yes. Dead, no."

"See?" Zeik shrugged and dropped the man. "We know how to put people down without taking them out. I promised you that I'd keep casualties down." Zeik looked up and noted their position. They were moving closer to the north coast all the time. "Well, it seems we're still making progress."

"At the moment." Sira grimaced. "But you can bet my dad will have a surprise for you."

"He's a good warrior, yes, but..." Zeik trailed off as the Guardian troops slowly withdrew from the battle. Some of Zeik's men began to cheer, but he didn't think it was over yet. Then, a mass of, well, creatures, appeared on the rise. "What the hell?"

.

"Ready Lucca?" Nadia waited to signal her archers and the marksmen.

"One second... The cannon is still charging. Okay, now!" Lucca pulled back two large handles on the Pulsar cannon, and discs of energy about three feet in diameter immediately began arcing into the battlefield, knocking many soldiers off their feet. As the Guardian troops retreated up the hill, Nadia's troops sent a hail of arrows at the Matuyama soldiers, and the marksmen began shooting to disable, rather than kill. Lucca turned on the monitor beside her. "Okay Ozzie, hit them while they're distracted, now!"

"With pleasure! Here we go!" There were many loud shouts, and as the projectiles continued to lay waste, thousands of mystics crossed the top of the ridge, and charged down the hill.

"Our soldiers will follow you down once you start to carve a path. Good luck Ozzie."

.

"What's happening here?!" Zeik shouted from what had suddenly become the front. He grunted as three henches plowed into him, then quickly beat them back. "We've gone from winning big to losing big!" He ducked as one of the energy discs flew over his head. Another disc hit a man not far away, and he flew several feet before laying still. More of Zeik's men charged forward from the rear, protecting him.

"Zeik, this is really weird." Sira said quietly.

"Yeah, I didn't expect something as bad as that gun..." Zeik glared up at the hill.

"No, not that. The levels of magic around here are increasing dramatically."

"Uh oh. Hold that thought. I see your dad not very far away." Indeed, Crono didn't seem to notice them at the moment, but he was making his way through the ranks of Matuyama soldiers with relative ease.

"Oh well. This is a little more important." She started to tell him about the magic levels again.

"No! I don't want you to get in trouble here. Retreat for now!" The men nearest to him gave him a funny look. "Not you guys, just her!!"

"But, he could kill you!" She sounded geniunely concerned.

"That's very true, but I don't think he will. Now go!" Reluctantly, she slowly moved back from Zeik's position.

.

Crono suddenly began hearing gunshots a lot closer than he had been. Looking to his left, he saw what was left of the special agents pouring down the hill, firing rapidly into the enemy ranks. "What are you doing?!" He demanded. "I wanted to cut down on casualties! And anyway, I called you people away so that you could live, not die fighting!"

"Sorry sir." The leader of the group said. "Vincent's already out there somewhere, and besides, the desire for revenge overshadows the desire to live."

"I don't think this will be a low casualty battle, sir." Another of the agents broke in. "Those people fight too well."

"You got that right!!" A voice shouted out. Crono turned to face left just in time to see Kaneta and Omi descend into the middle of the special agents. They now showed none of the reserve as when they had been fighting the relatively green Guardian troops. Instead, they slaughtered with grim abandon, and blood flew everywhere. Finally, the few agents that still stood surrounded the two warriors, guns drawn. Kaneta and Omi remained tensed, their weapons at the ready, but motionless.

"Everyone, please!" Crono shouted, somewhat sickened by the bloodbath he had just witnessed. "I didn't want this to happen!" Then, suddenly, Omi's head erupted into a spurting fountain of blood, splattering his brains everywhere, while the rest of his body collapsed to the ground. Everyone stood motionless. None of the agents had fired a shot. Whirling around, Crono saw Vincent calmly twirling his gun, reloading it. "Vincent! Didn't you hear what I just said?!"

"Loud and clear. Whether you wanted this or not is irrelevant. That guy's parents killed my best friend when I was in the service. It was payback time." Kaneta's hand began to shake with rage. "Now, hold that pose Kaneta." Vincent lowered the gun again.

Kaneta raised his katana high, and charged through the ring of agents. "For Kasigi Omi-sama!! You will die!!"

"Vincent, no! I order you to stop!" Crono shouted at the same time.

"Such theatrics." Vincent whispered distastefully. Then, he calmly fired. No one could tell exactly where it hit, but Kaneta went flying several feet through the air before landing hard, then he lay still.

"Enough of this!!" A commanding voice roared. Vincent whirled around to find himself facing Zeik, his sword at the ready.

"You-!" Whatever he was going to say was cut short as Zeik swung hard. Vincent jumped back, but the Murasama cut his gun in two.

"Now Vincent," Zeik grinned a little, "much as I would love to kill you, I promised someone important to me that I'd maintain a low body count."

"You're just too much of a wuss to really use that sword." Vincent spat.

"Is that a fact?" Zeik's grin broadened, then he struck quickly, severing Vincent's left hand from his arm. Vincent howled in pain and collapsed to the ground, clutching his massively bleeding stump. "You'll live. But if you ever insult me or the sword again, you won't." Then he turned to Crono. "Sorry about that, but I really hate him."

"You're the leader?!" Crono was surprised, not feeling overly sorry for Vincent.

"You thought I was just a messenger? Yeah, I'm the Matuyama. This whole mess is about you and I, so why don't we settle it?"

"Very well, Sei i tai Shogun." Crono lowered the Swallow at Zeik.

Zeik grinned as lowered the Murasama. "Uh, I really think you ought to find out what that means before you honor me with the title again." Then a dour expression crossed his face. "You're a pretty cool guy, but you are ruling the country that has enslaved my people for a thousand years! Eeaaaaaggghhhh!!" Zeik charged forward, and Crono quickly brought up the Swallow to defend. He was actually pushed backward as the Murasama connected! He quickly slashed out with a return stroke, but Zeik blocked it well.

The two opponents circled each other warily, occasionally rushing forward. Suddenly, Zeik made an exceptionally fast charge, twisting his blade at the last minute so that it slipped past Crono's block. The tip of the Murasama imbedded in Crono's torso, and his eyes widened. Zeik grasped the hilt firmly and jumped upward, tearing a huge gash. He grinned as he hit the apex of his jump, blood flying off his sword. But then something was wrong. Crono was up in the air too, despite his injury. The Swallow seemed to be spinning rapidly in his hands. Zeik jumped to the side as soon as he hit the ground, but Crono's sword carved down his side and went deep into his leg. Despite the pain, Zeik quickly struck out again, hitting the same wound he had inflicted earlier. Flicking his wrist, the Murasama twisted to the side, opening the wound up further. Crono dropped to one knee, closing his eyes. Zeik knew that he was not beaten, but now merely conserving his energy for his attacks, rather than putting up a constant effort.

Just as Crono was about to cut loose with Confuse, Pillage and Plunder piled into Zeik, pushing him back, with Ozzie waddling up behind. "Why'd you do that?" Crono gasped, short on breath. "This wasn't your fight!"

"We were in the area anyway, and really, I don't think the rest of the humans would be too happy with us if we were to let something happen to you." Crono sighed and turned to watch Zeik's progress, as did Ozzie. If they were fighting on straight battle skill, Zeik might have been able to beat them, but Pillage and Plunder's devastating fire based double techs pushed him far back into the field. "That's enough!" Ozzie called to them when they were almost beyond range of his voice. Now mystics, charge!!" As hordes of the fierce and none too clean creatures raced by him, Crono realized he wouldn't be able to get to Zeik again for a while. But he would see him again. This was their fight, and they would end it themselves, not their lackeys.

.

Zeik's men rushed forward in another brief charge, even as the Pulsar Cannon continued to devastate their ranks. They didn't care any more. They had seen what Zeik did to Vincent, and more importantly, what Vincent had done to Omi and Kaneta. The Matuyama soldiers abandoned their caution, now killing the enemy outright. But the mystics were tougher than the humans had been anyway. They plainly ignored Ozzie's orders to try to capture rather than kill, and magic spells raged across the field, besides the ordinary physical battle.

Zeik finally took a rest as enough of his men surrounded him. "Zeik, this is getting too ugly!" He looked up from where he was kneeling to see that Sira had returned.

"Our only chance for a quick end now is if you can do the summon."

"I told you, there's not enough... wait a minute." She seemed to drift off.

"What is it?" Zeik asked, standing up.

"There's a lot more magic power here than there was earlier. I wonder what's causing it." Suddenly, an imp screamed as one of Zeik's men hacked it to pieces. As it fell to the ground, a small amount of a green mist-like substance seemed to leak out of its still form. "Ugh, I feel sick... That's what's causing it Zeik. Whenever one of the mystics dies, the magic that was in it, becomes part of the basic field."

"I have no clue what you're talking about, really. But start concentrating!" With that, Zeik hurled himself at a large group of henches that was beginning to smash through his men. Sira collapsed to her knees as he stabbed and decapitated them, but began to concentrate anyway.

'This is terrible. The best way to end it is still to claim victory fast. Only I have the power to stop this slaughter.' Her hands began to glow, and steadily became brighter. The mystics could all plainly see every free magical wave on the field converge into her body. The glow slowly spread up her arms, gradually spreading to every part of her. The waves continued to pour into her until there were no more. She just sat there for a second, until Zeik ran up and quickly dismembered yet another hench. One more small wave quickly travelled over to Sira, and she stood up.

Energy crackled from her hands, and arced into two spots on the ground. The energy slowly took on a form, travelling upward quickly, until it was a crackling mass over 50 feet tall. Then, it flashed brightly, and the energy was replaced with a towering creature. It slowly took in its surroundings, then its huge voice rumbled, "What the hell is going on here?!"

.

"You must pay for what you have done!"

"Now, li'l princess, let's see how you do against me!" - Schala and Serges, _The Origin of Mount Woe_


	9. Surge!

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 9**

**Surge!!**

By Nanaki

Early June 17

Zeik ran forward to explain the situation to the huge creature. "Uh, excuse me sir. But we have summoned you here to fight against-"

Serges, for indeed it was him, looked scornfully down at Zeik. "Kid, why in hell would I help you?! I don't care what's going on here! I have so many more important things to do!" Then he took a good look at himself. "And why am I alive again?! I work much better without a body now. Rofellos is going to hear about this one..."

"Please, just hear me out. This won't take long." Zeik wasn't sure how to persuade something this powerful.

"No way! Send me back now, or you'll deeply regret it!" Zeik began to move back toward Sira. Serges followed his line of sight, then suddenly sniffed the air. "Wait just a minute..." A smile came to his face. He suddenly charged toward Sira. She turned to run, but didn't get very far before he was right on top of her. "You've got HIS blood in you! I've been..." He stopped, then sniffed the air again. "Hmm... Someone else here has it twice as bad. I'll deal with you later." Serges kicked out very lightly with his foot, and Sira went flying through the air, smashed into a rather large rock, and was quickly knocked out.

.

"What the hell is that?!" Crono charged back up toward the Pulsar Cannon. "It's heading right for us, and at that size, it's going to be here pretty damn soon! Lucca, can you nail it with one big shot?"

"I can try." Lucca flipped the handles sideways, and pressed a large red button. The tip of the cannon began to light up with a steadily increasing glow. She levelled it at Serges' rapidly charging form, then pressed the button again. A truly huge beam of energy roared out of the cannon, smashing full force into Serges' chest. He kept right on coming, as if nothing at all had happened.

"What the-?" Nadia exclaimed. "Lucca, how could he-?"

"I don't know!" Lucca gestured helplessly. Then she slapped her head. "Oh crud, I can't believe how stupid I was! Despite all that energy, it was still set to stun! I can give him a lethal blast this time! Hold on!" Lucca flipped a few levers, then began to charge it up again.

"It's already too late!" Crono cried. "Jump!" He grabbed Nadia and Lucca, and quickly jumped away from the cannon. Scarcely a second later, a huge fist smashed it into several thousand pieces. Crono whirled around to face the threat, now definitely wishing he had Rainbow.

"Now that the little annoyance has been taken out, we can get down to business." Serges dusted his hands off, then pointed at Nadia. "You have Vigo's blood."

"Who's Vigo?" Nadia quickly whispered to Lucca.

"Schala's dad, I think." Lucca whispered back.

Serges ignored them. "I've been wanting a rematch for over 13,000 years! I'm going to pay you back, with interest!"

"You'll have to go through me first!" Crono stepped forward protectively.

Serges looked at him with surprise. "Well, I didn't expect to see you here."

"What are you talking about?" Crono demanded as he drew out the Swallow. "I've never seen you before! I don't even know what the hell you are!"

"On the contrary, I've run into you more than once. Ah, yes, but you haven't hit the thousand mark yet, so you won't remember. Anyway, if you won't step aside, I'll have to kill you too."

"You got that right!" Crono shouted. He charged forward, then jumped as high as he could and nailed Serges with Confuse.

"Hm. You fight physically too. Interesting." Serges commented as he hit Crono with a backhand slap that smashed him hard into the ground. Crono quickly dusted himself off, and began to hover in midair.

"I can't be beaten so easily! I killed Lavos, and a-!" He sputtered angrily, only to be interrupted.

"Lavos was a wuss!" Serges shouted back. "We could have kicked his ass easily if he hadn't turned us against each other!"

Six lines of the lightning wavelength converged underneath Serges, and erupted into a large explosion. He leaned back and laughed, but otherwise, there was no visible effect. "Oh, you humans just don't learn, do you? You think you've truly mastered lightning?" He stretched his arm out, and it took on a blue glow. A blue explosion erupted in the middle of the field, quickly roaring outward. Crono raced back and tried to shield Nadia and Lucca with his body, but it hit all of them pretty bad. Nadia quickly cast Cure 2 on him, but it looked like he was feeling pretty bad.

"Okay, I've heard about enough out of you." Lucca glared at him. Her own hands began to glow, and the intense heat of Flare surrounded Serges. He glared back at her for a second, then cracked up.

"I can't believe it! This is exactly like last time, but none of you even have my weakness! Since Ultima didn't finish you off, have a taste of Merton!" A huge wall of fire roared forward, destroying everything in its path. All three of them were thrown violently backward as the fire scorched them, and the violent storm also hurled pieces of the Pulsar Cannon at them. Not one was concious when they landed.

.

"Crud, Sira, wake up!" Zeik shook her roughly, trying to staunch the blood flowing from an obviously broken arm. "Surge Weapon is going to kill them! You're the only one who can get rid of him!"

Suddenly, a very large shadow loomed over him. "She won't be waking up any time soon." Ozzie said gruffly. "Matuyama, make it easy on yourself and surrender now."

"You don't understand!" Zeik shouted at him. "That thing wants to kill the queen! He won't stop until he does! We can't control him! The only one who can send him back is her." He pointed at Sira's still form.

"You summoned something you can't control, huh? Why am I not surprised? Lemme guess, she's never summoned before?"

"Not really, this was the first serious attempt."

"She shouldn't have been able to wield that much power then."

"She didn't seem to be able to, until I..." Zeik gulped, "..until I killed a bunch of mystics."

"So she was able to utilize our natural magic. Interesting." A bright light flashed as the Merton spell ended, and Ozzie looked up. "The humans aren't going to be happy with me if Crono dies. All right, I suppose I'd better help you." Ozzie stretched his flabby arms out, and a healing light fell on Sira. While she was under the light, Ozzie had a sudden realization. "That's Crono's daughter!! What the hell is she doing on your side?!"

"She's..." Zeik remained silent for a moment. "I don't really know." Sira finally began to open her eyes.

"What happened?" She rubbed the back of her head.

"You got knocked out by the Surge Weapon. And, he's about to kill your dad, so I'd be unsummoning him pretty fast."

"All right." She slowly stood up, then stretched her hand out toward Serges. She started to frown as nothing happened. "He's resisting. This may take a while."

Ozzie looked down at Zeik reluctantly. "Well Matuyama, you sound like you want him to stay alive, so let's team up."

"All right." Zeik reluctantly agreed. He started to charge toward Serges, when a white light surrounded him. When he could see again, he was already there. It seemed that Serges was trying to decide whether to kill the king and queen immediately, or to wait for them to wake up so he could battle some more.

Serges looked down at them, and his voice boomed, "You two aren't anywhere close to being as skilled as they are! What can you possibly do?"

Ozzie's eyes seemed to suddenly glaze over. "Maybe we're not as good as they are, but I've got an ace up my sleeve!" Then, a Shadow Bomb rocked into Serges. His armor took most of the blast, but the smile instantly vanished from his face. "Matuyama, attack him now!" Ozzie shouted. Zeik reluctantly ran forward and jumped into the air. As he hit the apex of his jump, Ozzie's arm jerked out. "Shadow Sword!" A beam of Shadow energy raced into Zeik's sword just as it connected with Serges. With the added power, the Murasama slashed deep into him. Serges held his stomach for a minute, then collapsed to his knees.

Then, a look of real fear appeared on his face. "No, not her..." The ground around him began to glow, and he disappeared in a large flash of white.

Ozzie breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, it looks like we just needed to weaken him first. Thanks for your help. Now, get back down to what's left of your men, so we can kick your ass!"

Zeik glared at him. "We're the ones who're going to be kicking! We'll be ready for you!"

"Hmm... I almost feel sorry for you." Ozzie said to the air as he ran away. "Almost." He stretched out his arm again, and Crono, Nadia, and Lucca began to stir.

.

"Took you long enough." Zeik complained as he reached Sira's position.

"Sorry." She grinned sheepishly. "I'm new at this."

Zeik surveyed the battlefield wearily. They had only had five thousand men to begin with, and it looked like fewer than one thousand remained standing. Zeik didn't see four thousand bodies on the field either, so it looked like most of them had been captured. He came to reluctant realization. "We're not going to win."

"What?!" Sira gasped, very surprised.

"We're not going to win. There's no possible way, not with the mystics helping them. I want you to leave now."

"But, I want to stay with you."

"I'm glad to hear that, but there's too much danger. There's not too many of us left. We're going to fight to the end, and it's going to get ugly. All this business about taking prisoners and not heads is going to end. They already got Kaneta and Omi! What chance do you have?!"

"Vincent was a special case." She grimaced. "But all right, if you want me to..."

"Yes, I do." She reluctantly began to run toward the trees to the west, where she could hopefully slip through to Zenan Bridge, and the Guardian fortifications. "I'm fairly sure I'll see you again." He called after her. "And when I do, you can call me by who I really am, Matuyama Tuvai!!"

She smiled as she continued to run. "Very well, Matuyama-sama!!"

Zeik turned to face the northern rise again. This time, he could plainly see the king standing on top. His voice drifted across the field. "Matuyama-san! I ask one more time for your immediate surrender!"

"Never!!" Zeik shouted simply back. "Everyone who still has the will, charge!"

The greatly diminished mass of Zeik's men surged forward, chants circulating throughout them all. "Sei i tai Shogun! Sei i tai Shogun!! Matuyama!!" Soon, Zeik and his soldiers reached the front line of mystics, and the blood began to fly.

.

From the trees to the east, two sets of eyes watched Zeik's progress. "Think you have the gun figured out?" Vincent hissed, holding the stump of his arm, which was tied in a tourniquet.

"It's not very hard to use." Plunder responded, squinting through the cross hairs. "Ozzie said we can completely ignore our orders not to kill for this last skirmish."

"Do you have a clear shot?"

"Dead in my sights." Plunder pointed the barrel straight at Zeik, and his finger tensed on the trigger.

"Not in this lifetime." A voice said calmly as the bloody blade of a katana stabbed through Plunder's stomach. His eyes bugged out in surprise before he collapsed to the ground.

"Kaneta!!" Vincent whirled to face him. Indeed, Kaneta stood weakly behind him, clutching the gunshot wound where blood was still seeping from his left shoulder.

"Well, I see Zeik already payed you back for this." Kaneta observed as he noticed Vincent was missing a hand. He painfully leaned down and picked up the gun Plunder had been carrying. "But not for Omi." He levelled the barrel with Vincent's head. Vincent quickly reached down to his boot and whipped out a smaller gun of his own, before Kaneta could fire.

"I'm a hell of a lot more used to these things than you are." Vincent growled.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take." Kaneta's finger tensed on the trigger.

Both guns went off at the same time. One man dropped to the ground.

.

"I don't need a plan, just a goal. The rest will follow on its own." - Gerrard Capashen, _Magic: the Gathering - Tempest_

.

(Nanaki's note: For those too young to remember 1998, or those who just plain don't remember, Surge was a short lived soft drink that was apparently the result of someone deciding that Mountain Dew didn't have enough caffeine. The Surge TV commercials usually ended with people shouting "Surge!!", hence the stupid title of this chapter.)


	10. To The Settling Of Everything

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 10**

**To The Settling Of Everything**

By Nanaki

June 17

"That was a lot worse than I thought it would be." Nadia said dejectedly as she surveyed the destruction. Very few of Zeik's one thousand remaining men had been captured alive. With the Pulsar Cannon out of commission, they had basically been forced to kill everyone they couldn't surround.

"That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do." Crono frowned. "Right now I wish I wasn't the king. These weren't some monsters just out to kill us. These were people, fighting for what they believed in, not bad people either."

"True enough, but what they believed in is impossible." Nadia put a hand on his shoulder.

"The thing is, I believed it was possible. I just fought a pointless battle."

"You saved the kingdom." She still tried to comfort him.

"No, I exterminated another one."

"Well... I've heard that Sira showed up at Zenan Bridge during the battle. Apparently, she was taken hostage by their forces, but managed to escape."

"She showed up DURING the battle? I wonder..."

"What is it?"

"Probably nothing. Let's get back to the castle. Set the soldiers to work digging graves, and thank the mystics for a job done too well."

.

Late June 20

"Excuse me, Princess Sira." Sira slowly got up from her bed at the sound of someone knocking on the door. There hadn't been any sign of Zeik after the battle, and though that might have reassured her that he was still alive, she was afraid that he was one of the bodies too badly burned by mystic magic to be recognizeable.

She opened the door, and saw a guard standing in the hall, his visor pulled low over his face. "Princess, confirmation has come that all the Matuyama forces have been either imprisoned or killed."

Her eyes began to water. "Yes, thank you. Good night."

"Fortunately, the Matuyama himself survives to fight on!"

"What?!" She whirled around. The guard took off his helmet, revealing Zeik's smiling face. She ran forward to embrace him. "Zeik! Oh my god! I thought you were dead!"

"Shhh!" He guided her back into the room and closed the door. "When I said I would fight to the end, I meant the end of the battle, not the end of my life! I have to survive to fight another day!"

"Wow! I can't believe this! You're the first person I've ever felt this way about, and I was afraid I wouldn't get to tell you."

"Tell me what?" He began to take the guard uniform off, trying hard to keep the metal from clanking.

"I really, really like you, Matuyama Tuvai. Given time, I think I could love you. Don't ask me to explain it, but..."

"Don't worry." He smiled gently at her. "I know, love defies explanation. If this were a logical situation, we would hate each other. I feel the same way about you, but... Well, tonight is probably the last chance you'll get to see me."

"The last time? Why?"

"I can't keep sneaking into the castle every chance I get. I have to find a new hiding place, and slowly rebuild our forces."

"Let me go with you then!"

"I can't. I want to, but your father would send search parties out everywhere, and eventually find us. This is it."

Tears began to come to her eyes again. "I can't believe that it ends like this. I wish there was something I could say, something I could do for you..."

"There's nothing to say, but..." He slowly bent down and kissed her on the lips. "There is something you can do. Only if you're willing, of course."

"If this is my last chance to see you, then anything. I don't want to let you go, not yet anyway."

"Not for a few hours, at least. I'm sorry it has to be like this. Given time..."

"It's funny, isn't it? I'm the daughter of the hero of time, but now, I don't have nearly enough."

"So let's make good use of what we have. I'm sorry it's like this, but I do love you, and you don't know how hard that is to admit."

"No, I really don't." Then, he kissed her again, and they began drifting across the room, riding an emotional high.

All that was noticeable from outside the castle was the shutters suddenly slamming shut. No more, no less.

.

Early June 21

Crono sighed as he neared the top of the castle. All the graves were finally dug, and the thousands of prisoners were locked in the dungeon, many on suicide watch. At last, everything was done, and he could finally start getting on with his life. 'This certainly is a sorry chapter in Guardian history.' He grumbled to himself. He started to head for his room, but thought for a second. There were quite a few things he wanted to ask Sira, so he headed for her room instead.

"Sira?" He opened her door without knocking, and quickly lit a lantern near the door. "I want to ask you about- What the hell?" Just inside the door, Zeik stood, fastening up his light armor. Zeik whirled around, and they glared at each other. Glancing to the side, Crono saw Sira sleeping peacefully in her bed. "What are you doing here?!" He demanded. Sira began to stir.

"Nothing to do with you. I'm here on personal business." Zeik picked up the Murasama, and headed for the door. "Let me pass."

"No!!" Crono ran up and punched him in the jaw. Zeik collapsed to the floor.

"What's happening?" Sira sat up in bed. "Oh god, no!"

"How stupid are you?!" Crono demanded of Zeik. "You're the most wanted man alive! Why would you come here at all?!"

"I'm leaving now!"

"You can't leave! Ever! I don't ever want to have to go through something like this again!"

"I don't see how you can avoid it."

"I can avoid it by killing you!" Crono lunged forward and hit him again. "It makes sense, doesn't it? By killing you here, I can save thousands of lives down the line! This ends now!" The Swallow sang as it flew from the scabbard.

"Father no!!" Sira shouted desperately.

But Zeik was too into it now to give up. "Very well, you have given me one last chance at victory! I won't disappoint! Hee-yaaahhh!!" The Murasama flew from its scabbard also, and the two opponents lunged at each other. Sparks flew as the two swords connected. They kept pushing for a second, but Crono was physically stronger, so Zeik broke off that contest. He quickly ducked low and try to slash Crono's legs. Crono jumped into the air, and quickly brought the Swallow down in a wicked overhead slash. Zeik jumped to the side, slashing wildly as he got back up. One hit connected, but Zeik belatedly noticed Crono was decked out in his silver battle armor, and the hit bounced harmlessly off. Apparently, after their last encounter, Crono had decided that a little extra protection couldn't hurt.

Crono struck downward in a tight arc, and the Murasama nearly flew from Zeik's fingers as he was forced to defend from an odd angle. "Father, please!!" Sira ran forward, placing herself between Zeik and Crono.

Crono regarded her for a second. "You're the one that summoned that thing, aren't you?"

"Yes..." She admitted reluctantly.

"That thing nearly killed your mother! No, this has to end here!!" He shoved her roughly out of the way and lunged forward again. Zeik was waiting for him this time, and a break appeared in his armor where the Murasama connected especially well. Zeik pressed the advantage, but Crono sidestepped the overzealous blow and struck down hard. Zeik sank to his knees as the blood began to pour from his back. Crono was about to run forward and finish him, but he stopped for a second as he saw the look on Sira's face. 'Oh crud. Something is going on here, and I have no idea what it is.' He stopped for a second. "Matuyama-san, Sei i tai Shogun, you are beaten. If you swear on your ancestors' graves, and by everything else you hold dear, that you will never incite your people to rise up against the kingdom again, I will let you live."

Zeik slowly looked upward, then turned his head to face Sira. "Sira, I'm sorry. We had something special, but..." Now he turned to face Crono again, and jumped back to his feet. "Never!! I will never give in to Guardian tyranny!! I will wield the Murasama until my hands are cut off, and then I will kick with all my fighting skill until I crush your skull!! This is for the ancestors! Matuyama!!" He charged forward in a furious fenzy, striking so many times in a single second that Crono would undoubtedly have been killed had he not been wearing the armor.

But this surge of strength could not hold out forever. Zeik finally stabbed the Murasama through Crono's armor and into his side. He hurriedly tried to yank it out, but it seemed to be stuck fast in the silver. Crono grimaced and punched him in the face again. He was forced to let go of the Murasama. Zeik quickly ran up and made good on his promise to kick with all his might. Crono's head snapped back, but he was nowhere near to having his skull crushed. Zeik yanked on the Murasama again as he landed, and finally managed to yank it free.

Zeik jumped back several paces, then lunged forward again, aiming for Crono's neck. Crono ducked the blow, and both he and Zeik were surprised as the Swallow stabbed all the way through Zeik's stomach. The leader of the Matuyama clan stepped back, drawing his breath in a ragged gasp. He sank to his knees. "This will never... ..be over. Never... ..until we are free of Guardia. One... ..one will always carry on... ..if luck was with me..." Zeik collapsed to the floor, his blood forming a puddle around him. "Sira, you were... ..special. Thank you. But, I go to join... ..Mariko..." With that, his eyes closed, and his breathing stopped.

"It's over." Crono gasped, leaning against the door frame. Sira slowly knelt down by his body, tears silently streaming down her face. "Sira, I'm sorry, but it had to end here. This had nothing to do with whatever was going on between you two. I'll send some guards to remove the body." With that, Crono left the room.

Sira slowly leaned over and picked up the Murasama. "No father. This is far from over. This is going to go on for a long, long time."

.

"No! How many more people have to die?"

"Well, can't keep this pretty girl crying!" - Rydia and Edge, _Final Fantasy IV_


	11. A New Mission

**The Trials Of The King Chapter 11**

**A New Mission**

By Nanaki

June 21

"Still no sign of her sir." The guard reported reluctantly. Crono nodded solemnly. There had been no sign of Sira since the last time he had seen her. He hadn't expected her to just up and leave like this. She had only known him for a few weeks. How attached could they have been? "We did find a few sheets tied together outside of her window. They were far too short for her to have climbed down, though. She would have had to jump into the moat."

"Did you find anything?" He asked, afraid of what he would hear.

"We've dredged most of it already, but no body so far."

"No. Wherever she is, she's probably alive. I wish I knew what she was going to do."

"She just needs some time to calm down." Nadia reassured him. "After all, I was pretty angry after you died. I'd only known you for a few weeks."

"Are you comparing me to Lavos?!"

"I suppose so." She reluctantly admitted. Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently.

"What the hell?" Crono demanded. "We haven't had any earthquakes since Lavos was around." As he and Nadia ran to the top of the right tower, they saw a crack appear in the ground in the middle of Guardia Forest. Lava began pouring out, and the trees were burned to a crisp. A humungous shape began to rise out of the blazing mass. It looked like Lavos' shell, except there were spikes sticking out of the spikes sticking out of the spikes, instead of straight spines. "It can't be!" Crono gasped.

"I wouldn't think so, but it looks like the queen witch herself." Nadia frowned. "Let's get down there." The two ran down the tower and out the front of the castle, getting as close as they could to the front of the shell. The front pod opened, and the lava bubbled away to either side. A blue skinned woman stepped out, an evil glint in her fiery eyes. Her long, dark blue hair seemed to writhe and twist like a mass of snakes.

"It can't be... It's Laria!!" Crono rubbed the scar on his left cheek. "I killed you!!" He roared at her, whipping out the Swallow. Nadia readied her Valkyrie as well.

The Lavoid smiled at him. "Yes, I suppose you did manage to kill me, through some freak accident. But Lavoid Queens aren't so easily disposed of. My sisters brought me back, easily. They have a more instinctive knowledge of time travel than any human could attain through any amount of studying!"

Crono began to twirl the Swallow in his fingers. "So what do you want? Why are you here?"

"I've already got what I want. I just stopped for the entertainment."

Crono's eyes narrowed even more than they already had been. "You!! You caused this war! You and your cowardly mind control!!"

"There was no mind control necessary." Laria laughed. "You humans are so easy to manipulate! I just increased Nadia's stubborness, Vincent's desire for revenge, and Sira's sympathy. Then I just sat back and watched the show!"

"I'll kill you again!!" Crono charged at her, his face a mask of rage.

"I think not." Laria raised her hand, and Crono froze in place. Nadia fired the Valkyrie, but the arrow just bounced harmlessly off her blue skin. "My little Lev is in trouble. I have some other human trash to take care of before I can deal with you." She headed back toward her shell, but turned back one time. "I don't know how you managed to beat me last time, but I'll give you a lot worse than a scar if you come after me again." With that, the front pod closed around her, and the shell began to blast off. Crono dropped the to ground, then quickly got up.

"Get back inside!" He shouted to Nadia. "Or else we're going to roast!" As they reached the castle doors and jumped inside, a fireball launched from Laria's shell, and the doors burst inward as it impacted. Then, she was gone.

As Crono rubbed the soot off his face, he heard a low whirring sound outside. He helped Nadia up, and they both ventured back out. He couldn't believe what he saw. "I-It's the Epoch! But I thought Maro had-"

He stopped talking as the canopy slid open. A young man looking to be about 19 hopped out. There was nothing especially unusual about him at first glance. He was wearing a long sleeved black shirt, rough black pants, and heavy black boots. His hair was fairly close cropped in a conservative style. The only thing was, his hair was blue, and he was floating about two feet above the ground. He glanced around for a second, then spotted Crono. "King Crono Triggara of Guardia?" He asked politely.

"That's me." Crono nodded tiredly. "What are you here for?"

"I spotted Laria taking off as I was coming in. I need your help to go after her."

"You probably have it, but who are you?" Crono asked, beginning to grin.

"My name is... Well, you can call me Kash. I'm Schala's son, if that means anything to you." Crono and Nadia were speechless now. "I need your help pretty bad. Laria has gone back in time to before I was born to try to kill my mother. To stop her from ever becoming a hunter, and to prevent me from ever existing."

"Count us in, as soon as we can round up Lucca and Vincent. Laria just messed us up pretty bad. This would help to take our mind off of it somewhat. But tell me, how did you get the Epoch?"

"This?" Kash glanced back at his ship. "This isn't the original Epoch. It's a replica Keldon made, studying Belthasar's designs. And of course that lousy 'synth wouldn't let me take the Skyshroud Ranger." He grumbled to himself.

"Um, I think we have a lot to learn." Crono grinned at him.

"You'll be fine." Kash reassured him. "We're a team on our main goal then?"

"Right." Crono stretched out his hand, and Kash shook it. "To the death of Laria!"

.

"If she dies, it won't just be his past that changes. It'll be ours too." - Washu, _Tenchi Muyo in Love_

Nanaki (at age 16, said): The following people correctly guessed the reason as to why Giga Gaia concentrated his attack on Marle in Chapter 47 of The Aftermath of Mount Woe: Tony Porreco, Ray21121, The Entity, and Icy Brian. I'm only using the names that were on the e-mails, so if I screwed anybody's up, don't sue me. The reason was that Marle is a descendent of Vigo. Remember that Giga Gaia was a collection of Shivan's spirit energy, and he still wanted another shot at Vigo, much like Serges in this story. Good job people.


	12. Epilogue

**The Trials Of The King **

**Epilogue**

By Nanaki

March 21, 1,019 A.D.

"How is she doc?" Kaneta asked with geniune concern as the doctor wearily descended the stairs. Luckily, this remote country doctor had not recognized them or the few men with them.

"Mother and daughter are both resting peacefully." The doctor reassured him. "Um, are you...?"

"The father?" Kaneta finished his sentence for him. "No, although I probably will be a primary caregiver." Then, a different look crossed his face. "Daughter?" The doctor merely nodded. "You should probably go clean up." Kaneta observed. "Is it all right if I visit her?"

"Yes, although you should wait a few more minutes." The doctor walked through the door, and into the scrubbing room.

'A girl. Hmmm... This may complicate things a little.' Kaneta thought as he slowly ascended the stairs. 'Ah well, besides being a Matuyama, she's the granddaughter of the hero of time. She'll kick much butt, when the time comes.' He slowly opened the door. "Sira, you awake?"

"I'm really tired, but yeah." She said weakly from the darkened room.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not so hot. I told Zeik I wished there was something I could do for him, I didn't know how much work it would be."

"I'm sorry he wasn't here to help you. I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to get along with."

"You did all right. I wish I could be with him though."

"I knew you'd start to think like us eventually." Kaneta slowly unsheathed his sword, and handed it to her. "You have the right to be with him, after all you've done."

She looked up at him in surprise. "No! I didn't mean that! I want to go on living. I want to go home, eventually." She passed the sword back to him.

He took it by the hilt, and stared at his reflection in the blade for a minute. "I'm afraid that's not a viable option."

"What?!" She gasped, trying to draw away from him now.

"You're still far too loyal to Guardia without Zeik. Maybe you do hate the king, but I know you'd feel sorry for everyone else if we started to massacre them. I'm sorry you won't get to see your daughter grow up, but this is the way it has to be." Kaneta raised the blade above his head.

"Kaneta, no!!" Sira screamed as he struck downward. There was a blue flash as the blade connected, and then it plunged deep into her heart. Kaneta didn't stay around for the aftermath. That hadn't been easy for him to do, even if it needed doing if the Matuyama people were ever to have their freedom. He quickly walked over to where the baby girl was now crying, and bundled her up.

"I hope someday you can forgive me for that." Then he quickly grabbed the Murasama from where it was laying on the floor, attached a grappling hook to the window sill, slid out of the building, and into the night. "I've got big plans for you kid, big plans."

.

Sira slowly opened her eyes as the blue glow faded. There was no sword poised over her heart, just some damp, foggy air, a cobblestone landing, and several people standing around her. "What's wrong with her?" A worried voice asked. She turned and recognized her father, although he was much younger than when she had last seen him.

"She just gave birth!" A woman who seemed to be in the lead responded somewhat scornfully. "It's not exactly the most fun thing in the world."

"I'm a grandfather?" Crono asked, his face turning white.

"In quite a few years, yeah."

"Oh man!" He sank to the ground. "I can't believe it! I don't want to be a crusty old geezer!"

"Anyway, Sira." The woman stretched her hand out. "I know you're not feeling so good right now, but hear me out. The war was caused by a Queen Lavoid, who manipulated a few people on your planet, you included. Now, I'm a Lavoid Hunter by trade. I'm wondering if you'd like to help us."

"Did she make dad kill Zeik?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Wait, I'm not supposed to know this!" Crono shouted.

"Relax. I was going to have to erase your memory after this anyway." The woman responded. "Anyway Sira, that's debatable. But she did make Vincent kill Omi, and probably incited the other special agents too."

"All right, I'll help you." She tried to stand up.

"Save your strength!" The woman gently forced her back down. "You need to recover for a few days. We can wait a few days to kick some Lavoid ass, don't worry." She saw Sira still seemed a little shaken by what had happened to her. "Hey, don't worry. Your life is going to go on for a long, long time."

.

"Death is not a debt I am yet willing to pay." - Purraj of Urborg, _Magic: the Gathering - Mirage_

.

CREDITS OF THE KING

Okay, right now, I'm sure some of you are thinking, 'That was quite a bit different than his previous story, but good in its own right.' I'm sure most of the rest of you are thinking, 'What the hell was that?! What was the point of that story?' Well first off, take a look around the fanfic page. There are a ton of authors, and even more stories. But are there all that many ideas? Not really, from my point of view. A few of you are writing about Magus, a few of you are explaining the mysteries of Zeal, like I did in Mount Woe, a few of you are dealing with the descendents of the original characters, but the majority by far are simply gathering everyone together for another adventure. Few are even bothering to introduce their own characters in that type of story. Or if they do, the characters aren't very unique. It was time for something original! I have never seen a plot like this in any fanfic I have read based on any game. Some people may compare this to "Forgotten Messiah," but I think the two are substantially different.

Second, despite all the fanfic that I write, I do have plenty of my own original stories. I was planning to use this plot on one of them, but it looks like I just won't have the time. Once I changed the characters from the "Greyjaw Dragon Clan" to a group of oppressed humans, it worked just fine. For those of you who care, yes, my own original stories revolve around dragons rather than humans.

Third, I did provide a little more information concerning "Tempo Trigger," and also some more information about the main characters from the game. But mainly, I just wanted to write it!

Again, there are some people I would like to thank.

James Clavell, the masterful author of "Shogun" and "Tai-Pan." Without him, the Matuyama clan would not exist. His books also taught me what few words of Japanese I know. I'd advise all of you to check them out.

One of my best friends in real life, Lawrence Railey. The rest of you can read on now, but Lawrence, on the off chance that you ever see this, give me a call. I wrote a partial sequel to "Valkyrie" called "The Battle for LA" and I think you'd find it interesting. If your parents will let you send me your address I'll mail a copy off to you.

Another of my friends in real life, the man known to some as "Zacks." Good luck in North Dakota my man, but at least mail me back my copy of Final Fantasy Tactics, dammit!

Icy Brian and the current members of the Legion of Fantasy, as always. A quick note to Double A: A "halfways decent writer" doesn't abandon their story after just a few chapters. (Just so some of you don't nail me on that one, I plan to have "Zango and the Jenova War" done by the end of July.) Besides, I've got some original stories that'll blow you out of the water. E-mail me if you'd like a small sample.

And again, everyone who bothered to read this.

Now, I'm sure some people have a few questions, so I'll try to be one step ahead by answering a few below that I will probably receive some e-mails about.

Q: Did Kaneta frag Vincent's ass, or did he get shot twice and live to tell about it?  
A: Well, the story seems to support the fact that both of them are still alive afterward. Right now, it's going to remain a mystery. Whether the truth will be revealed or not remains to be seen.

Q: Why did the story refer to Marle as Nadia when the game made it quite clear that she hates that?  
A: First off, I think Nadia would have matured a little in 18 years. But also, whether Square realizes it or not, the name "Marle" is ripped off from a series of English fantasy books. Anyone who's ever seen a map of Krystonia (besides the weird thing in the first book) should know this.

Q: Isn't "Sira" pretty damn close to "Sari?"  
A: Hell no! I've been using that name since December 1996! If it was possible to send files from my ancient 286 over the internet, I'd prove it to all of you. Also, I always named Marle Sira when I was playing Chrono Trigger, because of the fact I just pointed out in the above question.

Q: Was Atenak Kaneta's ancestor?  
A: Duh! "Atenak" is simply Kaneta spelled backwards.

Q: Isn't Kasigi Omi from "Shogun" and Kaneta from "Akira?"  
A: Duh again! Actually, if you all had the same interests and knew everything I do, you'd see the only original name I ever used in Mount Woe was Vigo. I improved a little on this story with Pillage, Plunder, Sira, and the rest of Nadia's children besides Maro, but still...

Q: Isn't this section of text longer than the story in this epilogue?  
A: Yes, it is. So I'll shut up now.

Actually, one more quick note. In Icy's poll asking if people would buy Chrono Trigger 2, were Square to make one, I have just seen that out of 604 respondents, 15 have voted "No." No?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! These must be the same people responsible for Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2. Those agents from Enix are everywhere! A warning to you "No" voters. If I ever run into you, don't expect to get out alive.

Note from Icy: Odds are that there's one idiot out there loading the ballot, and he's screwed if I find him!

Well people, I'm now going to try to force myself to finish "Zango and the Jenova War." It shouldn't be much longer than this story. In fact, it may be shorter. All of you look for "Tempo Trigger" in early August. I'm pumped up about that story, and I write the stuff! See you all real soon-

Nanaki

(Nanaki's "Ten Years Later" note: Hindsight being what it is, I should have been one of those "No" voters. Though if Square ever does make an actual Chrono Trigger 2, and not another muddled side-story like Chrono Cross, I'm sure it'll be one of my favorite games. Anyway, I actually hadn't read this story in a long time before posting it up here, and frankly it's a LOT worse than I remembered. So, on behalf of my idiot younger self and all my teenage friends who gave this thing glowing reviews, I apologize. I do think that the humor in the story still worked though. Even now, those wacky mystics are pretty entertaining. Oh well, this is what happens when a sixteen year old is determined to write an entire story in one month. What can you do? Thanks for reading, and look for Tempo Trigger here in August.)


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